NordVPN has just announced it is killing one of its features due to a lack of usage.
Meshnet is set to be discontinued starting from December 1, meaning that all functionality associated with it will be removed.
Rated as TechRadar's best VPN, NordVPN, launched Meshnet in 2022 to give its users a new, secure way to connect multiple devices to securely share files, multiplayer gaming, or collaboratively remote working. A tool, however, that never quite picked up among the NordVPN community.
Saying goodbye to MeshnetMeshnet lets you create a virtual network that up to 60 devices can join and use simultaneously to communicate with one another (Image credit: NordVPN)"When we built Meshnet, our goal was to give users more control over their connections and networks. By offering it as a free add-on to NordVPN’s core service, we hoped it would become a valuable part of your online experience. But sometimes even good ideas don’t reach a wide enough audience," wrote NordVPN in an official announcement.
Discontinuing Meshnet, the provider explains, will free significant resources that the team would be able to use to focus on improving what most of NordVPN's users care about, namely faster speeds, stronger security, and smarter VPN features.
This is why starting from December, Meshnet and its functionalities will shut down for good. These include options like device linking, traffic routing through other devices, and personal mesh networks.
The provider ensures that the virtual private network (VPN) service will continue to work as usual, with the change affecting only Meshnet-linked features.
Finding a Meshnet alternativeIf you're one of the few people who have been enjoying NordVPN's Meshnet, it is now a good time to look for alternatives.
The provider recommends that anyone who used Meshnet for secure file sharing switch to NordLocker instead. We also suggest looking into Proton Drive, as it comes with both free and paid plans.
If building your meshnet virtual tunnel for different purposes is what you're after, you should be happy to know that there are a few mesh networking solutions on the market you can switch to, such as Netmaker.
We approached NordVPN for other tips to support existing users with their transition, but are still waiting for a response at the time of publication.
You might also likeIt's not a leak, it's not a rumor and it's not another mishap: the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE (or Buds3 FE as Samsung likes to style it) are here.
This hasn't been an easy road: the buds were spotted on June 12, leaked on July 22, then actually launched prematurely by Samsung's Panama arm on August 7, but now they're officially officially here, as announced by Samsung.
So what's new? The first thing to note is actually something that's not new, and that's the Buds 3 FE's strong resemblance to the flagship Buds 3 Pro. And it's not just a pretty dress either: you also get the Buds 3 Pro's control functions, including pinch and swipe gestures (yes, you can swipe the blade to adjust volume).
Also, the Buds 3 FE are IP54-rated for dust, sweat and water resistance, which is a high rating for buds, and something I love to see.
Another thing I love to see? The longest quoted battery life of any Galaxy Buds to date, with up to 8.5 hours of uninterrupted listening in the earpieces (or 6 with ANC on), or 30 hours including case recharging (24 hours with ANC on).
On the subject of ANC, Samsung promises enhanced noise cancellation and call quality from the six-mic array, since one mic in each earpiece has been moved into the blade, closer to the mouth for clear voice pickup.
And although the buds still contain a solo dynamic driver under the hood – which also houses a Bluetooth 5.4 chipset with SSC (Samsung Seamless Codec) plus AAC and SBC support – it's a little bigger this time around for more immersive audio.
Big Galaxy x Gemini smarts (Image credit: Samsung)But let's get granular: what about AI? Like their Pro siblings, the Galaxy Buds 3 FE feature Google Gemini including voice activation, plus translation piped into the buds in real time via the Samsung Interpreter app – all part of the Galaxy AI suite.
To clarify (in case you're yet to be acquainted with this particular kind of Samsung-meets-Google tech), that means you'll be able to access Google Gemini for conversational AI assistance, but with the Galaxy AI Interpreter app you'll also be able to use Real-Time Interpreter through the buds or Live Translate to translate phone calls while they're happening.
Of course, this is Samsung, so the Buds 3 FE will work seamlessly with your Samsung TV, tablet, PC or phone, with Auto Switch for easy-breezy device switching – and as you'd expect, the Find My earbuds feature is here, so you can get the buds to emit a 'beep' should you misplace one.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 FE are available in two finishes – black and gray – with a matte dual-tone finish.
We can't vouch for the sound just yet, but if these 'Fan Edition' buds live up to the hype in testing, our best earbuds buying guide may well have a fresh contender… watch this space.
The Galaxy Buds 3 FE will go on sale in the US on September 4 at Samsung.com, as well as selected retailers, priced at $149.99 – that's around £110 or AU$230, although official prices for these regions are yet to be confirmed.
You may also likeSuperman and Star Wars actor Terence Stamp died aged 87 on August 17, 2025, leaving an illustrious legacy of a lifetime of movies behind him. If you’re asking me, the jewel in his crown is undoubtedly The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (known as the latter name for short), following two drag queens and a transgender woman traveling across the Australian desert in a tour bus to take their cabaret show to a remote town. Over 30 years after its release, it still holds a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 94%, and there’s a good reason why.
As Guy Pearce, Stamp’s co-star in Priscilla Queen of Desert, put it in his X/Twitter tribute following the news: "Farewell dear Tel. You were a true inspiration, both in and out of heels. We’ll always have Kings Canyon, Kings Road and F’ing ABBA. Wishing you well on your way ‘Ralph’!” Stamp indeed changed the game with his character Bernadette, still highly regarded as one of the most positive representations of transgender women in LGBTQ+ cinema.
“We talked long and hard about why he’d initially said no. It was fear,” director Stephan Elliot told The Guardian about the casting of the iconic movie. “And fair enough – you have got to remember we were coming out of the HIV/Aids mess. It was a taboo subject. I looked at the work that he’d done all the way through, like the Italian years when he worked with Fellini and Pasolini, and thought: this was a man who took chances. And I think he was at absolutely the right moment in his life where he was ready for another chance.”
But we’re only just scratching the surface of greatness here. You need to experience Priscilla Queen of the Desert in full to truly understand the magic behind what makes it so special, and luckily, it’s currently available to stream for $0 in the US. Not-so-luckily, it’s only free for the next two weeks, so this is your sign to run to Plex while you have the chance.
Why I recommend you watch Terence Stamp’s Priscilla, Queen of the DesertIt’s sad that death often makes us appreciate what we had after it’s gone, but frankly, I don’t think there’s any better way to honor Stamp’s sheer level of versatility as an actor than to watch Priscilla, Queen of the Desert . As Elliot revealed, Bernadette is a role many actors (including Stamp himself, briefly) would have passed up at the time, because any actor aligning themselves publicly with the LGBTQ+ community immediately risked their career.
While Elliot also stated Stamp complained Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was one of only two movies people wanted to talk to him about (the other being Superman), and would much rather have looked back on movies like 1967’s Far From the Madding Crowd, it’s easy to see why we couldn’t let this musical adventure go. It marks such a fundamental shift of the cultural dial while offering viewers an unfiltered dose of pure happiness and joy in something seldom celebrated (drag, that is). The movie also slotted perfectly into the 1990s wave of cool musical movies, with oddities like The Wedding Singer, Little Voice and Cats bravely following in the footsteps of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert . Being different was finally something to not be ashamed of, and we’ve got people like Stamp to thank for that.
Full to the brim with zingers, effortless chemistry between Stamp, Pearce and Hugo Weaving, and triumph in the face of adversity, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert packs a punch from the moment you start watching. While everything that happens is completely out of the ordinary, it only ever feels natural, and that speaks to the quality of what’s happening in front of and behind the camera. Proud of its own flamboyance, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert strikes an impressive balance between confronting tense social situations and simply having fun, meaning you can just sit back, relax, and trust that you’re about to watch something special. If you don’t want to perform ‘Finally’ along with the penultimate scene, I don’t know what to say to you.
If you miss Priscilla, Queen of the Desert on Plex, you'll also be able to catch it on Prime Video, Hoopla, The Roku Channel and MGM+ in the US. Those in the UK and Australia can also stream it on Prime Video.
You might also likePresident Trump will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today at the White House. And, more National Guard troops head to Washington, D.C. for the president's crime crackdown.
(Image credit: Saul Loeb)
Former national security adviser Jake Sullivan says President Trump will "put all the pressure on Zelenskyy" to make a peace deal with Russia, during their meeting in Washington, D.C. today.
(Image credit: Mstyslav Cherno/AP)
Skyworth has unveiled the world's biggest art TV, the 100-inch Canvas Elite Art TV, alongside a slightly smaller 86-inch model. Both models are bigger than Samsung's largest The Frame Pro art TV, which tops out at 85 inches.
The panel here uses Skyworth's proprietary OmniView Matte technology, a three-layer setup developed in association with BOE that, according to Skyworth, delivers OLED-level performance from mini-LED displays.
If 100 inches are too big, Skyworth also has multiple smaller models in its Art TV collections. (Image credit: Skyworth)Canvas Elite Art TV: key featuresThe display is a 4K mini-LED with over 1,000 local dimming zones, 2,000 nits of peak brightness and a 144Hz refresh rate. There are three HDMI 2.1 ports with support for 4K/120Hz gaming, and the TV includes two 10W speakers.
The Canvas Elite runs Google TV with Google Assistant voice control, Google Cast and Amazon Alexa compatibility, and it supports Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR10+ and HLG, Dolby Audio and Dolby Atmos. The TV comes with the Art Time virtual art gallery and "400+" free artworks.
In addition to the 86-inch and 100-inch Canvas Elite models, Skyworth has also added a new 75-inch model to its Canvas Art range. That means the firm now has Art TVs of 55, 65, 75, 86 and 100 inches.
The 100-inch Canvas Elite TV has an MSRP of $4,999 and will launch at CEDIA Expo 2025 in September 2025.
You might also likeWhite supremacist tropes and ironic viral jokes illustrate the administration's project of redefining who belongs in the United States.
(Image credit: @DHSgov and @WhiteHouse via X)
In a battle prompted by President Trump, Texas and California could redraw lines that change whose votes really matter in the 2026 congressional elections.
Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filings have confirmed Oracle has laid off over 300 workers in Washington and California.
The redundancies consist of 143 workers in Redwood City, California and a further 161 in Seattle, Washington, however further layoffs could also be taking place that are not covered by WARN filings.
A worker familiar with the matter told The Register the figures sound low, suggesting remote workers might not be accounted for – a way of obscuring the scale of layoffs that Microsoft has also been accused of.
Oracle lays off over 300 workers"It feels like that happened here too, the reported numbers don't quite match up with what my network is saying," the worker said.
"My estimate would be low thousands worldwide... Supposedly this is just the start, too," they added.
Compared with other giants in this space, Oracle's reaction to economic uncertainties has been pretty reserved. Around 200 workers left in 2022, with some more leaving in separate sittings since then.
Compared with the tens of thousands who have lost their jobs at Amazon, Google and Microsoft, Oracle workers have therefore been pretty safe.
Looking ahead, The Register's source suggests thousands could lose their jobs worldwide with offices being closed and large cuts in India (around 10% of its local workforce).
Artificial intelligence has been blamed for ongoing tech layoffs, but instead of AI taking human jobs, companies are having to allocate more capital towards AI data center expansions, effectively cutting their staffing budgets.
In June, Oracle confirmed a revenue increase for fiscal 2025 of 8%. "Cloud Infrastructure growth rate is expected to increase from 50% in FY25 to over 70% in FY26," CEO Safra Catz noted.
TechRadar Pro has asked Oracle to share further context about its recent layoffs. Any update will be posted here.
You might also likeThe Ukrainian president will be joined at the White House on Monday by several key European leaders, as they look to find an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
(Image credit: Saul Loeb)
Leaders in Washington, D.C., say they're striving to maintain calm as growing numbers of National Guard soldiers deploy to the city. President Trump hasn't said how he wants this "crisis" to end.
(Image credit: Tasos Katopodis)
The novel Women Seated is a thriller about a nanny for a rich family and a kidnapping gone awry. It's the first in a new effort to redefine the types of Chinese literature get translated into English.
(Image credit: Riverhead Books)
In recent years, we have seen significant growth in the number of IoT (Internet of Things) devices, and the trend shows no sign of slowing down, with researchers estimating there could be 40 billion IoT devices by the end of 2030. Our daily lives now rely on connected devices like smart TVs, smartwatches and smart thermostats.
Meanwhile, businesses utilize the IoT for key operations such as managing supply chains, traffic flows and assessing equipment uptime. Users of IoT devices are now also benefiting from advancements in AI and sensing technologies, which provide them with enhanced performance, greater personalization, adaptability, remote control and real-time monitoring.
As we become increasingly dependent on these technologies to provide essential functions in our daily lives, we must recognize the risks that they can pose. Any AI-based IoT device could be exposed to information that is not reliable or accurate.
This is particularly concerning in safety-critical systems such as power grids or transportation networks, where a single faulty sensor or flawed algorithm could result in real-world consequences. While we continue to make IoT devices smarter and more autonomous with AI, we must also ensure we are making them safer too.
From digital risk to real-world disruptionAs IoT devices are given the power to act, and not just collect data, the risks are no longer just digital. There are a number of ways that IoT devices can be at risk, such as communication problems, human error, or cyber-attacks. Depending on which sector the systems are deployed in, the effects could be catastrophic for health, the economy, or the environment. Furthermore, IoT systems are highly interconnected, which means faults can spread quickly from one system to another.
As the IoT becomes more integrated into our lives and affects the real-world, the boundaries between cyber and physical are gradually disappearing. It is crucial that we understand the different cybersecurity vulnerabilities of IoT systems, especially when they are operating safety-critical features for individuals or businesses. By identifying real-world scenarios and the potential consequences, we can then develop strategies to detect any anomalies and build more reliable systems.
Rising threats in the energy sectorOne example of a sector where issues on IoT devices could result in severe consequences is in energy and power systems. Renewable energy usage is increasing, with the IEA reporting that globally there will be more than 5,500 gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity between 2024 and 2030.
With increasing use of renewable energy sources, new solutions and technologies are being utilized, such as smart grids or microgrid paradigms. The IoT plays a crucial role in coordinating the use of resources, such as flexible loads, generators and batteries, to deliver the necessary amounts of power where and when needed.
However, the energy sector is a primary target for cyber-attacks, with notable incidents including the Stuxnet attack in 2010 or the attacks to the Ukraine grid in 2016, 2017 and 2022. In these cases, actors are looking to cause physical damage to infrastructure through so-called cyber-physical attacks, where they are specifically targeting physical assets to cause an impact in the real-world.
For example, by attempting to simultaneously take control of many devices such as smart meters and EV smart chargers, hackers could potentially destabilize the grid and cause widespread blackouts. While not the result of a cyberattack, the massive impact that blackouts can have was seen in April in the grid outages across Europe, where transport, ATMs, traffic lights and even communications systems couldn’t operate.
With cyberattacks on the energy sector being a pressing concern for governments, institutions and companies, there must be a focus on strategies to make the systems more secure and safer.
Protecting the IoTFortunately, there are measures that can be put in place to ensure IoT devices are secure, safe and resilient. Importantly, as attacks become more sophisticated, we should involve a range of multi-disciplinary skills, and not just rely on traditional Computer Scientists tools. Control Engineers can play a key role in designing and optimizing systems so that systems behave as intended.
The use of modeling and digital twins can help detect the presence of anomalies. This approach avoids having to retrofit IoT systems to solve issues after deployment. During this process, we should identify key vulnerabilities that IoT devices may have in their hardware components, software, and interconnectedness.
Additionally, it is crucial to consider the entire flow of data within the control loop to assess the levels of accuracy and reliability at each stage. Ultimately, a holistic approach is necessary to consider every step of the IoT device from conception and design to deployment.
Creating safer systemsThe IoT is at the forefront of a revolution, with AI offering advanced new capabilities. As we benefit from these innovations, we must also understand the potential risks and ensure that resilience and robustness are built in from the very beginning, to avoid any repercussions in the real-world. By utilizing different skills and leveraging Control Engineering, we can ensure that as we become more connected, our systems are protected.
We've listed the best product management software.
This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro
Watch EFL Championship 2025/26 live streams as Southampton, Ipswich and Leicester aim to go straight back up, with Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's Wrexham and Tom Brady's Birmingham back in the second tier. Below we have all the information on how to watch EFL Championship 2025/26 season from anywhere in the world with details on worldwide TV channels, broadcasters and live streams on TV screens, laptops, tablets and mobiles.
Ipswich have kept plenty of their relegated Premier League squad in tact, including highly rated manager Kieran McKenna, with Sammie Szmodics a proven goalscorer at this level. Southampton have brought in Will Still as gaffer this term after he impressed in France with Reims and Lens. Marti Cifuentes has replaced Ruud van Nistelrooy in the Leicester dugout, and the Foxes have retained their best players, with the exception of Jamie Vardy.
Promoted sides Wrexham and Birmingham will fancy their chances. The Welsh side, owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, have won three successive promotions from the fifth to the second tier, where they feature for the first time since 1981/82. Josh Windass and Lewis O'Brien are among their summer signings. Blues, part-owned by NFL great Tom Brady, have brought home former youth product Demarai Gray to feed Jay Stansfield up top after a 100-point 2024/25.
Elsewhere, Frank Lampard will hope to go one better with his Coventry City side that fell in the playoffs, Ruben Selles takes charge of Sheffield United, while Millwall could go well under the competitive gaffer Alex Neil.
Whatever happens, expect thrills and spills in arguably Europe's most competitive league in which anyone can beat anyone.
Here's where to watch EFL Championship 2025/26 live streams online from anywhere.
Game of the WeekNorwich vs Middlesbrough — Saturday, August 23, 3pm KO
Middlesbrough have made a flying start to the Championship under new manager Rob Edwards, collecting six points from their first two matches. They'll look to continue that momentum at Carrow Road, where attacks should come to the fore.
Streaming Options: Paramount Plus (US)
Use a VPN to watch any EFL Championship 2025/26 streamNordVPN – try it risk-free for 30 days
Use NordVPN to watch your usual EFL Championship 2025/26 free stream from abroad. We test all the providers and we rate Nord as the best VPN. There's 24/7 support available, a money-back guarantee and, best of all, there's currently over 70% off and an Amazon gift card included with this deal.View Deal
CBS's streaming service Paramount Plus is the place to catch the EFL Championship 2025/26. Matches picked for international broadcast will be shown on Paramount Plus, CBS or Golazo.
Not yet a subscriber? Paramount Plus costs from $7.99 a month or $59.99 a year. And if you've never used the service before you can take advantage of a FREE 1-week trial.
The Paramount Plus app is available through Apple TV, iPhone and iPad, Android TV, Android phone and tablet, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Portal TV, PlayStation 4, Samsung TV, Vizio TV, LG TV, Roku, Xbox One and Series X, and Xfinity Flex.
If you're traveling abroad and struggling to connect to your Paramount Plus account, don't worry, a VPN will smooth out any issues. We recommend NordVPN – more details and a great discount above.
How to watch FREE EFL Championship 2025/26 live streams in the UKThe EFL Championship 2025/26 live streams will be shared between Sky Sports and ITVX the UK.
Sky Sports will be showing more than 1,000 of the 1,891 matches across the EFL (Championship, League One and League Two), Carabao Cup & Vertu Trophy this season, with every team of the 72 guaranteed to have 20 live games.
Sky Sports packages start from £20 per month. Or you can use a more flexible streaming option, Now (formerly Now TV). Now Sports memberships start at £14.99 for a day pass or £34.99 monthly if you are looking to catch all of the games.
This season, free-to-air ITVX will also be showing 20 live games, with 10 Carabao Cup ties and 10 games from across the EFL's three divisions, which includes the Championship.
All you need is a TV license to sign up and watch. The following are the first tranche of ITVX matches, all Championship fixtures with BST start times, unless otherwise stated.
If you're traveling outside the UK then use a VPN to catch your Sky Go, Now or ITVX streams.
How to watch EFL Championship 2025/26 live streams in Canada(Image credit: Other)In Canada, DAZN has the rights to broadcast the EFL Championship 2025/26.
DAZN plans start at CA$24.99/month and you can also watch the Champions League and Europa League soccer, the Bundesliga, Nations League, rugby and tennis.
Traveling outside the Great White North during the season? Make sure to use a VPN so you don't miss any of the action.
How to watch EFL Championship 2025/26 live streams in Australia and New Zealand(Image credit: Shutterstock)In Australia and New Zealand, the EFL Championship 2025/26 is exclusive to beIN Sports, which offers new users a 7-day FREE trial.
You can add beIN Sports to most pre-existing TV packages, or you can sign up as a separate subscription. It costs AU/NZ$14.99 month or AU/NZ$149 if you pay for a year up front, once that week-long trial ends.
In addition to the EFL Championship, beIN Sports has the rights to loads of soccer and other sports, including La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Carabao Cup and a shed load of tennis and rugby.
Not in Australia or New Zealand right now? Remember you'll need a VPN like NordVPN to watch all the EFL Championship 2025/26 action as if you were back home.
When does the EFL Championship 2025/26 start?The 2025/26 Championship kicks off on Friday, August 8. The campaign will run over 33 weekend rounds, nine midweek rounds, and four bank holiday rounds.
The final day of the season will be Saturday, 2 May 2026.
EFL Championship Fixture List Week 3Saturday 23 August 2025
Charlton vs Leicester — 12:30 pm BST / 7:30 am ET
Hull vs Blackburn — 12:30 pm BST / 7:30 am ET
Swansea vs Watford — 12:30 pm BST / 7:30 am ET
Birmingham vs Oxford Utd — 3:00 pm BST / 10:00 am ET
Coventry vs QPR — 3:00 pm BST / 10:00 am ET
Norwich vs Middlesbrough — 3:00 pm BST / 10:00 am ET
Preston vs Ipswich — 3:00 pm BST / 10:00 am ET
Sheff Utd vs Millwall — 3:00 pm BST / 10:00 am ET
Southampton vs Stoke — 3:00 pm BST / 10:00 am ET
West Brom vs Portsmouth — 3:00 pm BST / 10:00 am ET
Wrexham vs Sheffield Wed — 3:00 pm BST / 10:00 am ET
Can I watch EFL Championship 2025/26 on my mobile?Of course, most broadcasters have streaming services that you can access through mobile apps or via your phone's browser.
You can also stay up-to-date with all 2024/25 Premier League key moments on the official social media channels on X/Twitter (@SkyBetChamp), Instagram (@efl), and YouTube (@theEFL).
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
The modern software supply chain is operating under unprecedented pressure as new vulnerabilities emerge at a record pace. In 2024 alone, more than 33,000 new Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) have been reported – a record figure pushing security teams and developers to triage vulnerabilities at scale while trying to stay focused on their core vulnerabilities.
Yet, despite the high number of CVEs labelled “critical”, a closer look reveals that many of these threats aren’t nearly as severe in practice. In fact, recent research found that just 12% of these CVEs were flagged as “critical” by official sources truly warranted that designation.
This disconnect highlights a growing challenge for the cybersecurity industry. Although established CVE scoring systems like MITRE offer a useful baseline, they often fail to account for the unique context of each organization's environment. As a result, teams risk focusing on theoretical risks while genuine threats may be overlooked.
Take, for example, CVE-2024-45490 – a vulnerability in a widely used software tool that received a 9.8 CVSS Score. Although it received a “Critical” rating, further analysis and context revealed it is only applicable in 10% of cases. Exploiting this flaw would require a very specific and unlikely set of conditions for developers, making real-world exploitation extremely improbable.
To bring greater clarity to teams evaluating CVEs, security leaders should establish a checks and balances system of evaluating these threats with the necessary contextual analysis. This approach can help teams cut through the noise of low-risk vulnerabilities and ensure resources are directed toward their most pressing security problems.
Why context matters more than classificationA recent analysis of 140 high-profile CVEs revealed that 88% of Critical and 57% of High CVE scores were not as severe as the CVSS scoring would have you believe. Only 27 CVEs (15%) were found to be truly highly exploitable.
This highlights the importance of assessing the real-world context of CVEs. Without this information, misclassification can lead to alert fatigue, drain productivity and morale, and increase the risk of human error, which can cause more harm than the vulnerabilities themselves.
By factoring in aspects of the CVE like exploitability in their specific environment, exposure levels, and business impact, teams can make more informed decisions about which vulnerabilities demand immediate attention.
The toll on developers and security teamsThe constant flood of security warnings and CVE disclosures makes it increasingly difficult to distinguish real threats from less urgent issues. Over time, this overwhelming volume of alerts can erode focus, leading to burnout, slower response times, and a greater likelihood of dangerous mistakes. As threat actors grow more sophisticated, the risk of critical issues slipping through the cracks only intensifies.
A major contributor to this fatigue is the prevalence of false positives. When security tools flag benign activity as malicious, analysts are still required to investigate these alerts to rule out real threats. Instead of focusing on building new features or improving existing products, developers are also often pulled away to respond to a barrage of other security notifications, many of which turn out to be inconsequential.
Ultimately, vulnerability fatigue not only hampers the effectiveness of security teams and developers alike but also puts organizations at greater risk of serious security incidents. To break this cycle, organizations need smarter, context-driven prioritization that empowers teams to focus on what truly matters.
A smarter way forwardThe ever-growing list of CVEs demands a smarter, more strategic approach, one that goes beyond surface-level assessments. Context is king. By taking the time to understand how vulnerability applies to their unique environment, organizations can avoid unnecessary panic and instead zero in on risk.
Adopting a context-first mindset also facilitates better alignment between security leaders and business decision-makers. It supports a more measured, collaborative approach to risk that balances security with agility, resilience, and innovation.
In a world where every alert can feel like a fire drill, the ability to distinguish real threats from false alarms is more than a convenience. It’s a necessity.
We've listed the best firewalls for small business.
This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro