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A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Monday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, February 17 (game #617).

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

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

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

NYT Connections today (game #618) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• HEARTY
• READY
• HANDY
• SQUARE
• AVAILABLE
• BUTTY
• CAVITY
• FILLING
• FOOTY
• HOLE
• SOLID
• CHIPPY
• HOLLOW
• TELLY
• NEARBY
• PIT

NYT Connections today (game #618) - hint #1 - group hints

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

• YELLOW: Big and hollow 
• GREEN: Easy to get 
• BLUE: Large portion 
• PURPLE: UK speak

Need more clues?

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

NYT Connections today (game #618) - hint #2 - group answers

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

• YELLOW: CRATER 
• GREEN: ACCESSIBLE 
• BLUE: SUBSTANTIAL, AS A MEAL 
• PURPLE: BRITISHISMS 

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

NYT Connections today (game #618) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #618, are…

• YELLOW: CRATER CAVITY, HOLE, HOLLOW, PIT
• GREEN: ACCESSIBLE AVAILABLE, HANDY, NEARBY, READY
• BLUE: SUBSTANTIAL, AS A MEAL FILLING, HEARTY, SOLID, SQUARE
• PURPLE: BRITISHISMS BUTTY, CHIPPY, FOOTY, TELLY

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

Finally, Connections gives me a Purple group I can solve easily and acknowledges the vast army of UK players to boot.

In case you are unaware, a BUTTY is a sandwich made of one slice of bread folded over – invariably filled with chips that you’d buy from a CHIPPY (fish and chip shop) sprinkled with salt and vinegar and red sauce (ketchup), that you eat while watching the FOOTY (soccer) on your TELLY – a delicacy that is more of a snack than SUBSTANTIAL, AS A MEAL.

And now I'm hungry. Thank you, Connections.

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

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, 17 February, game #617)

• YELLOW: TIME OFF BREAK, LEAVE, REST, VACATION
• GREEN: FOLLOW A MEANDERING COURSE CURVE, SNAKE, WEAVE, WIND
• BLUE: BOWLING RESULTS DOUBLE, SPARE, STRIKE, TURKEY
• PURPLE: -__FISH BLOW, CAT, GOLD, SWORD

What is NYT Connections?

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

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

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

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

The program, which focuses on mentoring and therapy, relies on the idea that most violent crimes are emotional, not rational.

(Image credit: Scott Olson)

• Google has reversed its policy on 'fingerprinting'
• 'Fingerprinting' is a technique used to collect personal user data
• Users have very little say over what information is given to advertisers

Do you sometimes wish that online advertisers had access to more of your private information without your consent or knowledge? Well, you might just be in luck.

As of February 16 2025, Google is permitting ‘fingerprinting’, which is a stealthy technique which tracks things like your IP addresses, screen resolution, operating systems, and even battery percentage - until it has a creepily accurate profile of you.

This practice will be particularly disturbing to the privacy-conscious among us since it's virtually impossible for users to control what information is collected and when. You can turn off all cookies, use all the private browsers, and use the best VPN money can buy, but you could still be tracked with this technique.

Why the change of heart?

In its response, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office stated it considers fingerprinting to be, ‘not a fair means of tracking users online because it is likely to reduce people’s choice and control over how their information is collected’.

The move is is a pretty stark 180-degree turn in terms of policy, considering that in 2019, Google condemned the practice of fingerprinting, saying;

“Unlike cookies, users cannot clear their fingerprint, and therefore cannot control how their information is collected. We think this subverts user choice and is wrong.”

But the practice will, ‘ help businesses, large and small, meet the opportunities of the evolving digital landscape’, Google’s statement latest says, and it does claim to be ‘meeting user expectations for privacy’ - but you can decide for yourself if your expectations are being met with this policy.

So what can you do about it? Unfortunately, not a lot. The ICO admits, ‘even privacy-conscious users will find this difficult to stop’ as the practice is harder for browsers to block, and it relies on signals you can’t easily wipe - so pressing ‘clear all site data’ won’t stop the advertiser from using the same fingerprinting techniques to just identify you all over again.

That being said, some browsers, such as Firefox and the Brave browser, have fingerprinting protection features that can scramble things like time zone, language, fonts, and language in reports to websites. There are also Google Chrome extensions like Canvas Blocker which can function in a similar way.

If you want more information, we've written a full guide on what fingerprinting is and how to protect yourself.

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Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer Cooking System: one-minute review

The Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer Cooking System is just that. It is indeed an air fryer, and not really more than that, but the design is utterly unique. Rather than cooking in a plastic drawer, your food goes on a metal tray in a glass cooking container with built-in plastic handles and feet. The heating element, which Ninja calls the PowerPod, is placed onto the glass container. When your cooking is complete, simply remove the PowerPod and place the glass container right onto the table for serving.

If you have leftovers, you can just put the included lid on your glass container and stick it in your fridge. The glass containers come in multiple sizes and the PowerPod has an adapter so it will fit on each container perfectly. There are four cooking modes: Bake, Air Fry, Max Crisp, and Recrisp. Each runs at a different temperature range, so you have some flexibility.

Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer Cooking System: price and availability

• List price: $159.99 (about £127 / AU$251)

You can purchase the Ninja Crispi directly from Ninja’s website, where it’s available in a number of bundles containing multiple glass containers. You can also purchase extra glass containers in three different sizes separately: $29.99 for the six-cup container, $39.99 for the 2.5-quart container, and $44.99 for the four-quart size. The standard $159.99 system, which I tested, comes with the large four quart and the small six cup glass container. It’s available just about everywhere that sells air fryers online and in person, such as Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and many more.

• Value score: 4.5/5

Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer Cooking System: specifications Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer Cooking System: design and features

• Heat comes from removable Crispi PowerPod
• Four cooking functions
• Looks functional rather than attractive

The cleverly designed Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer Cooking System is a really a cooking pod, called the PowerPod, and a collection of glass cooking dishes. The cooking dishes, which Ninja calls TempWare Containers, withstand high cooking temperatures and are made just for the Ninja Crispi. You must use Ninja’s TempWare Containers; the PowerPod won’t work on other dishes. A built-in plastic piece adds handles and feet so you can place the dishes on any countertop. Each cooking dish comes with a metal crisper plate that nests inside and keeps the food off the bottom so air can circulate around it.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

Place your food into one of the glass dishes on the crisper plate and place the pod on top. The PowerPod fits the small six-cup dish perfectly on its own. If you’re using the larger four-quart dish, you’ll need to use the included adapter for the PowerPod. Choose your cooking function mode: Recrisp (380°-400°F), Bake (375°-400°F), Air Fry (400°-425F), or Max Crisp (425°-450°). Select your cook time by pressing the - or + buttons. Press the start button to begin.

As with most air fryers, you will usually need to flip your food over halfway through the cook time. To pause cooking, simply remove the PowerPod and it will power off automatically. To re-start cooking, place the pod back onto the glass container and hit the start button once again.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

The standard bundle comes with the largest glass dish, which has a four quart capacity, and the smallest one, which holds six cups. Ninja also makes a medium 2.5-quart glass dish, which is sold separately. Any of the glass dishes can be purchased separately, and there are different bundles you can buy with varying dish combinations. The handles and feet allow you to use the dishes for serving the food; there’s no need to transfer it to another container. All of the cooking dishes also come with an air-tight lid, so you can use the dishes for storing food as well.

Cleaning the Ninja Crispi is easy. You don’t need to clean the PowerPod, just the glass containers and crisper plates. They are even dishwasher safe, though it is easy enough to just wash them by hand. Though it’s not mentioned in the literature, I was able to use paper air fryer liners which made cleanup even easier.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer Cooking System: performance

Though there are four cooking modes, the Ninja Crispi is truly an air fryer. The Air Fryer, Max Crisp, and Recrisp modes all worked pretty much as expected. The Bake mode, however, was a bit disappointing. I tried baking several items, all of which turned out fully browned on the top and raw in the middle. Since air frying in general requires flipping for even crisping, I’m not that surprised that the baking mode wasn’t great. I think baking would be fine for something quite thin, like cookies or very small mini muffins. If you want to make something thicker, like full-sized cupcakes, you’re better off using a regular oven. Of course, most people don’t buy air fryers in order to bake.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

I eat a lot of fresh roasted vegetables, so I air fried broccoli, cauliflower, red peppers, brussels sprouts, and sweet potatoes. I used both Air Fry and Max Crisp modes. There is a learning curve, but once I got the hang of it, the veggies turned out delicious with just the barest spritz of oil. You definitely want to remember to flip your food, at least once during the cooking process. When I didn’t flip it, the food did not cook evenly. The Ninja Crispi is very, very fast. It’s a good idea to check your food frequently to make sure you don’t burn it. Even with careful flipping and checking, vegetables tend to brown (or blacken) quickly in some spots before all of them are fully cooked. Raw vegetables tended to come out more blackened and crisp rather than tender.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

My favorite vegetable cooked from its raw state was the diced sweet potatoes. They were crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. The next day I used the Recrisp mode to heat up the leftovers, which turned out great.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

I made a bunch of veggie burgers, as well as protein waffles, veggie tots, falafel balls, and veggie “chicken” nuggets. They all turned out wonderful and crisp on the outside, tender on the inside. I didn’t need to add any oil to any of these convenience foods.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

I hosted a Super Bowl party and air fried some frozen french fries for my guests. The fries disappeared so quickly, I ended up air frying another batch immediately! They were perfectly crisp and evenly browned on the outside and soft and fluffy in the middle. I did nothing to doctor them at all, no oil or seasonings, and they came out just right.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

My family got in on the air frying fun. My youngest is a more adventurous cook than I, and they made some panko-crusted and seasoned tofu squares. The tofu was delicious! As expected, it was nice and crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle. They didn’t even have to press and dry the tofu first. I’m a vegetarian but my husband eats meat; he used the Ninja Crispi to quickly and easily cook some chicken breasts. They got nicely browned on the outside (flipping half-way through cook time is a must) and cooked all the way through.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

As I mentioned above, I did try Bake mode. First, I made some pancake bites in a little silicone baking dish. The tops browned but the rest was still raw. I actually pulled off all the tops, flipped them over, and put them through another bake cycle. That worked fine. I also baked a (rather thick) protein air fryer cookie with the same results. I did the same thing where I pulled off the top, flipped it over, and put it through another cycle. Again, it was fine that way. So if you do use Bake mode, just be sure your items are very thin.

(Image credit: Karen Freeman / Future)

• Performance score: 4/5

Should you buy the Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer Cooking System? Buy it if

You want to minimize cleanup and hassle

Put your food in one specially designed glass dish. Then air fry, serve, and store your food without having to move it to another dish. You only have one dish to clean. Easy peasy!

You want multiple cooking modes

From low heat to high heat: Recrisp, Bake, Air Fry, and Max Crisp.

You want portability

You could easily keep the PowerPod at the office, for example, and just bring the glass container with your food inside ready to air fry each day.

Don't buy it if

You want something pretty to keep on your counter

The Ninja Crispi just looks functional. It has a lot of parts (stackable, but still) so you’ll need some storage space.

You want the cheapest possible no frills air fryer

There are certainly cheaper options out there.

You plan to do a lot of baking in your air fryer

If that’s the case, you might prefer a toaster oven-air fryer combo appliance instead.

Ninja Crispi: also consider

If you're not sure about the Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer Cooking System, here are some other options to consider...

Ninja Double Oven Air Fryer

Cook two different items two different ways at the same time in this two-compartment air fryer oven. This is a good pick if you want to bake and air fry with the same appliance, which is why it earned a place in our roundup of the best air fryers.

Read our full review here.

Russell Hobbs Satisfry Dual Basket Air Fryer

Just want a regular air fryer? This two-basket version does the job, twice, earning it the title “best budget air fryer” on our list of the best air fryers.

Check out our full review here.

How I tested the Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer Cooking System

• I tested Recrisp, Bake, Air Fry, and Max Crisp modes multiple times
• I used it daily for two weeks to cook a variety of food
• I cleaned it after each use

Although I’m a foodie, I’m kind of a lazy cook. As a wife and mother of three, I used to put more effort into crafting a variety of nutritious meals from scratch when my kids were little. Now that they’re grown, I still want to eat healthy meals, I just don’t want to take the time to cook them. The Ninja Crispi certainly helps me get food on the table fast. My family (my husband, my adult child, and I) used the Ninja Crispi daily, sometimes multiple times in one day, for two weeks. We made loads of fresh veggies, plus veggie burgers, veggie chicken nuggets, french fries, frozen waffles, breaded tofu, falafel, veggie tots, chicken breasts, pancake bites, and a protein breakfast cookie. I cleaned it after each use, which was quite easy. I did use paper air fryer liners sometimes, which made cleanup even easier.

Read more about how we test.

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• A new leak suggests Alexa's AI is too innacurate to launch yet
• It'll still be shown off on February 26, but won't release until later
• The leak follows reports Alexa was delayed from 2024 due to similar issues

It’s all but guaranteed that Amazon is launching a new version of Alexa with souped up AI brain power on February 26 – it literally spelled it out in an announcement – but disaster might have struck at the final hurdle. Alexa AI is reportedly delayed, again.

That’s per an anonymous source who spoke with The Washington Post (the report is behind a paywall) claiming that the new Alexa has been making too many mistakes when asked test questions. As a result Alexa is being delayed to improve its accuracy – with the current launch date now put back 'til March 31.

Amazon is still expected to unveil the all-new Alexa at the New York event on February 26 as it originally planned, however, we expect access to the AI (and the questions it’ll answer in demos) might be restricted so as not to reveal its potentially less-than-perfect side.

As with all rumored information, we should still take all of this with a pinch of salt, though if The Washington Post is correct, this wouldn’t be the first time Alexa has been delayed. Multiple sources had teased a 2024 launch date, with accuracy issues once again cited as the reason Alexa was held back.

(Image credit: Amazon)

Beyond causing a delay, these issues could also prove a blow to Amazon’s rumored plan to charge users for Alexa's help. It’s been said the revamped Alexa could cost paying customers $5-$10 a month to use (around £5-£10 / AU$8-AU$16). If Alexa is unreliable – or has a reputation for being unreliable beyond what’s expected from a current-gen AI – we imagine there won’t be many users keen to pay for the service.

At least the current-version of Alexa is said to be sticking around as a permanently free and generally reliable option.

If Amazon can solve Alexa’s accuracy problems, the new AI does sound rather useful. Alexa AI is said to be smarter so it can handle multiple prompts at once, rather than requiring its user to give distinct commands one after the other, and to perform as an AI agent – read: taking actions without direct user requests.

Admittedly that last point sounds a little scary, given that Alexa AI would have our credit card info and direct access to the world’s largest online store (Amazon), especially if Alexa is prone to mistakes (I know I'd be nervous about using it). But if Amazon can prove its agent is genuinely helpful, Alexa might finally start living up to the futuristic home assistant many imagined it would be when it first launched.

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• GlobalFoundries was spun off when AMD decided to go fabless 16 years ago
• Thomas Caulfield’s leadership made GloFo profitable; now rumors link him to Intel
• A merger could help Intel, but regulatory hurdles might block the deal

GlobalFoundries (GloFlo) was founded in March 2009 when a struggling AMD spun off its manufacturing division to go fabless, a move designed to help it survive in the highly competitive semiconductor industry.

GloFo eventually became a key player in the foundry business, with a global manufacturing footprint across the US, Europe, and Asia, focusing on specialty chips rather than competing at the leading edge. Under the leadership of Thomas Caulfield, who became CEO in 2018, GlobalFoundries pursued a strategy that led it to become the third-largest semiconductor foundry by revenue, and a public listing in 2021.

However, speculation is currently brewing that Caulfield could be set to become the next CEO of AMD’s long time chip rival, Intel. As reported by eeNews Europe, the rumors began following an unexpected leadership change at GlobalFoundries. Caulfield is set to move from CEO to executive chairman, with Tim Breen, who has also been at the company since 2018, taking over as CEO. This shift has led observers to question whether Caulfield may be preparing for a leadership role at Intel, which has been without a permanent CEO since Pat Gelsinger’s departure in December 2024.

Regulatory hurdles

Caulfield has extensive experience in semiconductor manufacturing but has not led a product company like Intel. This has fueled suggestions that instead of simply taking over as CEO, he could oversee a merger between Intel and GloFo. In such a scenario, eeNews Europe suggests that Caulfield would become executive chair of the combined entity, with Michelle Johnston Holthaus leading Intel’s product business and Breen integrating GlobalFoundries into Intel Foundry.

A merger would definitely benefit both parties. While AMD has seen its fortunes soar in recent times, intel has been struggling. Joining forces with GlobalFoundries could allow the merged company to offer a broader range of manufacturing capabilities.

Adding further fuel to the rumor mill, eeNews Europe reports that observers on a Reddit stream noted a recent purchase of 8,913,000 Intel shares at $19.29. This unusual transaction occurred two days before GlobalFoundries announced its leadership changes, drawing comparisons to the $172 million stock incentive given to Gelsinger when he became Intel’s CEO in 2021.

Any potential merger would of course face regulatory hurdles, particularly in China, which previously blocked Intel’s attempt to acquire Tower Semiconductor. If approval proves difficult, eeNews Europe suggests Intel could appoint Caulfield as CEO while maintaining close ties with GlobalFoundries.

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• Amazon is removing the Download & Transfer via USB option on Kindles
• The feature hadn't appeared on the latest models
• It's likely that the move is to combat ebook piracy

I've owned and loved some of the best Kindles in the series since Amazon first introduced the ereader, but using these devices can feel somewhat restrictive – especially now Amazon is killing off a useful USB file transfer feature.

As reported by The Verge, the Download & Transfer via USB option is going away on February 26. That means you'll no longer be able to download ebooks purchased from Amazon, and then move them to your Kindle over a wired USB connection.

The feature isn't actually available on the latest generation of Kindles, pushed out last year, but all other models are going to be affected. Amazon doesn't give a reason for the move, but it's almost certainly to crack down on ebook piracy.

Using fairly simple tools available online, users could download purchased ebooks from Amazon, crack the DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection on them, and send them to other devices or distribute them widely on the web. That will no longer be possible.

Less flexibility

An ebook on the Kindle Oasis

As is often the case, efforts to battle digital pirates means rule-abiding users lose out. This means ebooks can no longer be saved on computers as backups, or moved over without a Wi-Fi connection, which gave Kindle owners some extra flexibility.

It's worth bearing in mind that Amazon does occasionally remove ebooks from its catalog, or replace them with modified versions. Now more than ever, users are going to be at the whims of what Amazon decides to make available.

You will still be able to move ebooks over via Wi-Fi of course, as well as transfer files to your Kindle via USB and software such as Calibre. It's specifically the ability to download purchases from the Amazon website to a computer that's disappearing.

This also gets closer to fully killing off the older AZW3 format for Amazon ebooks: it's been replaced by the newer KFX format, which is much harder to crack in terms of its DRM, and which is now used in most situations (except downloads to a computer).

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• South Korea privacy watchdog has temporarily halted downloads of DeepSeek
• DeepSeek is working with authorities to get compliant
• Latest in a series of privacy concerns raised about AI chatbots

South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) has temporarily halted new downloads of Chinese-owned AI chatbot DeepSeek.

Reports from TechCrunch confirm the app is still up and running for those who have already installed it, and that the decision won’t affect usage of the app - but new downloads will be halted until the Chinese firm complies with Korean privacy laws.

South Korea isn’t the first to ban new downloads of the chatbot, with the model disappearing from the Italian App store and Google Play Store in late January 2025 after the country’s data watchdog filed a privacy complaint and asked for information on how DeepSeek handles users’ personal information.

Recurring concerns

DeepSeek has since appointed a local representative to work with authorities in South Korea, but the data protection agency has said it ‘strongly advises’ current users to refrain from entering personal data into DeepSeek until a final decision is made - here’s everything we know so far.

The restriction is temporary whilst the PIPC assesses the use and storage of data by DeepSeek, but the agency confirms the model will be available for download once it is compliant.

The PIPC found DeepSeek had transferred the data of South Korean users to ByteDance - TikTok’s parent company. TikTok, as many will remember well - was briefly banned in the US over privacy and security concerns.

DeepSeek isn’t the first AI model to come under scrutiny for privacy concerns. The nature of Large Language Models is a bit of a privacy minefield since they scrape every corner of the internet for data to train their models - without the consent of the owners/authors/creators of the media they use.

Further than this though, OpenAI has never asked people for permission to use their data, and it’s not possible for a person to get confirmation of what data has been used or stored - or for it to be deleted. This contradicts an important facet of GDPR laws, which protect the right to be forgotten and should guarantee individuals the ability to have their personal data erased upon request.

As the new kid on the block, DeepSeek is in the spotlight for a number of reasons - and there have been legitimate concerns about how the platform collects and stores your personal information like your email address, name, and date of birth, as well as the data you enter into the chatbot, and the technical information of the device you’re using, like IP address, OS, etc.

Using AI safely

So is DeepSeek safe to use? And can it be used whilst maintaining your privacy? Well there are things you can do to mitigate the risks.

As with all LLMs, if you’re concerned about data privacy, using AI is probably not a good idea. LLMs scrape data from the internet without permission, and will use your interactions to add to the pool of data the model is trained with, and that’s not something you can opt out of, DeepSeek included.

If you’re in South Korea or Italy and still want to download DeepSeek, even the best VPN services will need a little extra help - as they don’t spoof your App store location, so you’ll need to download it from elsewhere. This is something we usually advise against, as it can be a really easy way to be tricked into downloading malware - so do so with caution.

In terms of the cybersecurity risks, there have been reports DeepSeek is ‘incredibly vulnerable’ to attacks, and failed to block any harmful prompts when tested, severely underperforming against its rivals.

You should be wary when using these chatbots - especially on a company device or if you work in an industry that has national security connections - there’s a reason both Australian and Indian government departments have blocked the use of DeepSeek from work devices.

A general rule is that users should be especially careful with the information you give to a chatbot. Don’t enter your health information, financial data, or anything that you wouldn’t want a third party to know. Monitor your accounts for any suspicious activity regularly, and flag anything you see as soon as you see it.

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• Windows 11 patch is causing problems with File Explorer for some
• This means that some – or most – folders on the desktop are failing to open
• There are also reports of installation failures and PCs failing to boot

Microsoft’s latest update for Windows 11 has thrown some more spanners into the works for those who’ve upgraded to the most recent 24H2 spin of the desktop OS.

The February cumulative update for 24H2 users (known as patch KB5051987) did some admirable work on the bug fixing front, but sadly also appears to have introduced some fresh problems to this incarnation of Windows 11.

And two of these issues are very worrying, the first of which is a bug that’s apparently playing havoc with File Explorer, as reported by Windows Latest and other Windows 11 users across various online forums.

File Explorer is the app in which your desktop folders are displayed, allowing you to view and interact with the files inside. Due to this bug, though, you can’t actually view files, as some folders are refusing to open.

Windows Latest observes that the commonly-used Documents and Pictures folders are non-functional after installing the February update for Windows 11 24H2. File Explorer is also failing to work when accessed via Windows 11’s search function, or a desktop shortcut.

Other users are reporting various problems with opening certain folders, or indeed most folders – though some of them still appear to work.

It’s an odd sounding bug, in short, that’s having unpredictable effects. But if you’ve installed KB5051987 and are encountering weirdness in terms of folders just not working or appearing at all – even though File Explorer is running seemingly just fine, as normal, within Windows 11 – well, this is why.

On top of the flakiness with File Explorer, the February update is also failing to install for some Windows 11 users (though that’s nothing new – this is a common problem with a lot of Windows updates these days). For some, the download and installation process is getting stuck fast at a certain percentage, and for others, it might eventually complete, but it’s taking hours.

Worryingly, some folks are reporting that KB5051987 is causing crashes (Blue Screens of Death) after it’s installed, or that it has even torpedoed their Windows 11 installation entirely – yikes.

Windows Latest also points to potential issues with webcams not working, and the mouse cursor moving sluggishly and stuttering (as well as performance glitches in general).

(Image credit: Future / Jeremy Laird) Analysis: File this one under ‘worrying’

Just when I voiced hope that maybe Microsoft is finally getting on top of all the issues with Windows 11 – which have been numerous ever since the upgrade went live last year – we’ve seemingly got a doozy of a gremlin messing with the internal workings of File Explorer somehow.

File Explorer is a critical part of the Windows interface – as noted, it’s the very folders you navigate to access all the files on your PC – so to see it partially (or almost wholly in some cases) hamstrung is very disappointing.

This is a fairly widely reported issue, and as Windows Latest notes, it has over 30 reports sent in by readers (possibly more by now). There’s also lots of grumbling (understandably) about this on Reddit and other forums.

One of your first thoughts – it was certainly one of mine – was that a third-party customization utility could perhaps be to blame, but Windows Latest tried a completely vanilla installation of Windows 11, and this too was affected. There doesn’t seem to be any commonality between those suffering at the hands of this odd bug, not yet anyway – and there are no suggested workarounds for now. (Save for the obvious course of action – uninstall the February update).

That said, in one of the Reddit complaints I perused, I noticed that somebody offered up the idea of disabling Windows Sandbox, and this reportedly worked for two people. So that might be worth a shot, but bear in mind that Sandbox is not available on Windows 11 Home. So only those with the Pro edition can consider this possible fix, and most people are running the Home flavor of the OS, of course.

On top of the File Explorer problem, the reports of installation failures are very concerning, especially those which apparently broke Windows 11 completely. These reports seem much rarer, thankfully, but still – caution might be the better part of valor here, and you may want to put off installing the February update for as long as you can. (Which, I should note, for Windows 11 Home users isn’t all that long). In this case, you will, of course, be running without the security fixes provided by the patch, which isn’t ideal either.

With any luck, Microsoft will be investigating these issues and hopefully taking action sooner rather than later.

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• Palo Alto Networks fixes authentication bypass PAN-OS flaw
• A day after the patch was released, criminals started looking for vulnerable endpoints
• The flaw allows them to run different PHP scripts

A vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks firewalls is being abused in in-the-wild attacks, researchers are saying.

The company recently found, and fixed, an authentication bypass vulnerability in its PAN-OS firewalls. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2025-0108, has a severity score of 8.8/10 (high), and was said to affect multiple versions of the product.

It released a fix on February 12, 2025, urging users to upgrade their firewalls to these versions:

11.2.4-h4 or later
11.1.6-h1 or later
10.2.13-h3 or later
10.1.14-h9 or later

Exploit attempts

The vulnerability impacts the PAN-OS management web interface, and allows malicious actors to run different PHP scripts. This, in turn enables sensitive data exfiltration, firewall configuration tampering, and more.

Now, researchers from the security outlet GreyNoise said they observed attempts to exploit the flaw on unpatched endpoints. The attacks, they said, started a day after Palo Alto Networks released the patch (February 13), and came from multiple IP addresses, which could suggest that more attackers picked up on the vulnerability at the same time.

Citing information from Macnica researcher Yutaka Sejiyama, BleepingComputer reported that the attack surface likely counts more than 4,400 devices.

To protect the firewalls, users should apply the patch as soon as possible, and restrict access to the product’s interface, as soon as possible.

Firewalls used by SMBs are often targets because these types of businesses typically have weaker security configurations and outdated firmware. Many SMBs lack dedicated IT teams, leading to misconfigured firewall rules that create vulnerabilities. Furthermore, threat actors can use firewalls as entry points to bypass network defenses and gain deeper access to internal systems. Once compromised, firewalls can be used to intercept sensitive data, launch further attacks, or disable security measures altogether.

Via BleepingComputer

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The 88-year-old pontiff was initially admitted to the hospital on Friday for bronchitis. On Monday, the Vatican said test results show Francis has "a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract."

(Image credit: Mondadori Portfolio)

• A flaw named WhoAMI was found in Amazon Machine Image
• It allows threat actors to gain RCE abilities on people's AWS accounts
• A fix has been released, but many users are still yet to update

Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are potentially vulnerable to a name confusion attack called “whoAMI”, experts have warned.

The vulnerability, found in Amazon Machine Image (AMI), was discovered in the summer of 2024 by cybersecurity researchers DataDog, and has now been confirmed by Amazon, which said it fixed the issue on its side, and urged users to update the code on their side and thus protect their premises.

AMI is a pre-configured template used to create and launch virtual servers (EC2 instances) in AWS. It includes an operating system, application software, and necessary configurations like storage and permissions. AMIs allow users to quickly deploy consistent environments, whether using AWS-provided images, community AMIs, or custom-built ones. This makes scaling and managing cloud infrastructure more efficient.

Following the naming pattern

AMIs can be public, or private, and once generated, come with a unique identifier. Public ones can even be found in the AWS catalog. But these public ones should also come with the ‘owners’ attribute, as a way to confirm that they’re coming from a trusted source.

Now, the researchers found that the way software projects retrieve AMI IDs was flawed, and allowed threat actors to gain remote code execution (RCE) capabilities within people’s AWS accounts.

The technical details on how the vulnerability works and how it might be exploited can be found on this link. Long story short, if a threat actor publishes an AMI with a name that follows the format used by trusted owners, it can be picked up by mistake.

When DataDog first discovered the flaw, it said that overall, a very small percentage of AWS users are vulnerable, but that still equals “thousands” of AWS accounts. Amazon responded by issuing a fix in mid-September last year, and releasing a new security control called “Allowed AMIs” in early December last year.

It also advised all users to apply the fixes, while stressing that there was no evidence of abuse in the wild.

Via BleepingComputer

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• Unprotected.org successfully petitions USPTO against the application for Hosted WordPress and Managed WordPress
• However this is not an absolute denial for the trademarks
• Move leads some to call Matt Mullenweg's WordPress leadership into question

Since September 2024, WordPress, led by Matthew Mullenweg, has been locked in a battle with WP Engine over licensing and contributions to the WordPress community.

So far, the battle has seen Mullenweg block WP Engine from open source resources, followed by a court order that required WP Engine's access to be reinstated and restrictions to developers removed.

As part of a wider effort to control how hosts can use the WordPress name, the WordPress Foundation also attempted to trademark 'Hosted WordPress' and 'Managed WordPress,' but the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has required disclaimers for both terms in an initial setback for Mullenweg.

Is Mullenweg doing more harm than good for WordPress?

The attacks on WP Engine and trademark expansion efforts left many hosts wondering about the future of their WordPress hosting products and possible backlash from the WordPress Foundation over trademark infringements of the open-source software.

While this initial disclaimer request gives some relief to hosts it is not a denial and the term Hosted WordPress has already been granted in some counties. If the trademarks are granted it gives more control to the WordPress Foundation on which web hosting providers they can give licenses to for the use of the phrases.

The WordPress drama has caused many to question whether Mullenweg’s actions are damaging rather than strengthening the WordPress community. Since the attack on WP Engine, 159 Automatic (a company run by Mullenweg) employees have left because they disagree with his leadership.

The requested disclaimer on the trademarks was filed by Unprotected.org, a website critical on Mullenweg.

A spokesperson from the site told The Register, "This represents a great victory for the WordPress ecosystem, and we will continue to fight until there is accountability and a change in leadership.”

The spokesperson added, "The WordPress ecosystem is ready for new leadership, and Joost de Valk, the developer of Yoast SEO, is the first who comes to mind."

De Valk has previously called for the decentralisation of WordPress around Mullenweg and to create a federated and independent WordPress. In a blog post he said, “We, the WordPress community, need to decide if we’re ok being led by a single person who controls everything, and might do things we disagree with, or if we want something else. For a project whose tagline is “Democratizing publishing”, we’ve been very low on exactly that: democracy.”

In response, Mullenwag banned De Valk from sponsoring and attending any WordPress events. WordPress currently powers over 43% of the world’s websites but as web hosts develop their own website builders and uncertainty around the stability of WordPress grows we may see that number start to decline.

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