Researchers studied the health care program's effect on the health of millions of Americans and found tens of thousands of lives were saved.
(Image credit: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
Tapper's book, co-authored by Alex Thompson, describes a president who struggled to function: "One person told us that the presidency was, at best, a five-person board with Joe Biden as chairman."
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Death Stranding 2: On the Beach director Hideo Kojima has said that his next game, Physint, is still at least five to six years away from release.
In a new interview with French magazine Le Film Français(via VGC), ahead of the launch of Death Stranding 2, Kojima was asked whether he would ever consider directing a film in the future.
The game director said he would, and that he "received many offers after leaving Konami."
Besides the Death Stranding sequel, Kojima is currently working on his action espionage game Physint, which he said will take another five to six years to finish before he can consider moving into filmmaking.
“Besides Death Stranding 2, there is Physint in development," Kojima said. "That will take me another five or six years. Maybe after that, I could finally decide to tackle a film. I grew up with cinema. Directing would be a kind of homage to it. Besides, I’m getting older, and I would prefer to do it while still young.”
Phyisint is a brand new "original IP" that was announced during the PlayStation State of Play in January 2024 and will be Kojima Productions' third major game.
Kojima is also developing OD, his horror project for Microsoft that was revealed back in 2023. The director didn't mention anything new about OD during his interview, but it's said to be a "totally new style of game" being developed alongside Xbox Game Studios and will star actors Sophia Lillis, Udo Kier, and Hunter Schaffer.
For now, Kojima fans can look forward to Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, which is set to launch on June 26, 2025, for PS5.
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The 2025 Europa League Final is here - Tottenham face off against Man Utd in all English final as both teams look to put behind dreadful domestic campaigns.
The final will not only see one team lift the trophy, but also secure Champions League football for 2025-26 - a sweet reward for UEFA's second-tier competition.
FREE coverage has been provided thanks to TNT Sports via Discovery Plus in the UK and Ireland.
Ready to catch all the action? We'll keep you up-to-date with all the latest from Bilbao including highlights, replays and live updates.
(Image credit: Photo by Alex Pantling - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)Tottenham and Man Utd face off tomorrow night in one of the most highly anticipated Europa League Final's in many a year.
The finalists have only received 15,000 tickets, but if you can't make it to Bilbao you can keep up with the action across a multitude of tv channels and streams.
TNT Sports have made it FREE via Discovery Plus in the UK and Ireland. While those in the US can keep up with the action using Paramount Plus.
Ange Postecgolou denies being a 'clown'.
The Australian has addressed the press 24 hours out from their crunch clash against Ruben Amorim's side tomorrow.
We'll show you how to catch all the action wherever you are right here.
Europa League Final: FREE in the UKDid you know the game is being broadcast for FREE on Discovery Plus in the UK and Ireland.
Democrats have denounced the charges as politically motivated and an effort by the Trump administration to intimidate members of Congress and chill oversight.
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Having toiled away on critically-acclaimed titles in the Metroid series and reviving Konami’s Castlevania series, developer MercurySteam has taken the risk of co-financing their latest project. Blades of Fire is its chance to prove their development skills at crafting their own original idea, and there’s a lot to love about this game’s blend of dark fantasy and mythology.
Review infoPlatform reviewed: PS5
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
Release date: May 22, 2025
That being said, it’s hard not to feel the weight of legacy and industry trends, rather than instilling this world with bold new ideas, holding this game back from greatness.
Rather than focusing on the negatives, there’s much to appreciate in this new game, particularly the father-son-esque bond at the heart of this story. While the game builds up a story about an ancient race of giants known as Forgers, instilling the knowledge to craft weapons from steel into humanity, with this power being seized by the anointed Queen Nerea to curse those who oppose her and turn steel to stone, the plot is simple. Aran de Lira possesses one of the ancient hammers necessary to forge his own steel, and alongside Asdo, the son of his deceased friend, embarks on a quest to kill the queen.
(Image credit: MercurySteam) Classic is queenThere’s an almost-quaint retro simplicity to which the world of Blades of Fire is introduced: Aran is a lonely figure with an unspoken past that fuels his desire for a solitary existence, yet he’s more than willing to go and save an old friend he hears in danger nearby. The child desires revenge for his father’s death and, thanks to his knowledge of the Forgers, goes on this adventure with Aran to take down the queen.
The contrast of scholarly child and mysterious scarred older man soon warms to you, and not solely due to the similarities between their bond and that of Kratos and Atreus in the recent God of War titles. Asdo is far from an annoying sidekick, balancing wisdom with genuinely funny quips that are enough to make you laugh without grating (and you can always send him away, if you do wish for him to be quiet). I felt a warmth for Aran and a desire to learn more of his past, especially the guarded secrets of his past relationship to the Queen before her descent to despotic control.
Having first expected a practical but minimal story, I was surprised to find myself attached and with a desire to learn more of the rich lore the devs instilled into this world.
There’s an unabashed videogame-y nature to this world and cast, imbued with a quirkiness reminiscent of mid-budget adventure games abundant in the Xbox 360 and PS3 era
This is balanced with an engaging combat system that, though its quirks and intricacies will take time to learn, thanks to an at-first clunky and uncomfortable control scheme, you soon come to appreciate. Victory requires players to learn enemy attack patterns and the best weapons to counter each of them.
All four face buttons are each mapped to their direction of attack: on a PlayStation controller, this means Triangle will strike from above, X from below, and Square and Circle from each side. Depending on an opponent’s armor, it’s required to consider where you strike in order to deal maximum damage, or at times, inflict any damage at all.
The need to be aware of not just when but where you strike is most important in boss fights. One early sub-boss, a troll, requires you to whittle down its health, then slice off a part of the enemy’s body in order to drain it further before it can regenerate. Whether fighting big bosses - one boss at the end of the Crimson Fort is particularly interesting in how it forces you to learn both attack patterns and strike direction to defeat it most effectively - or small-fry enemies, it rarely tires even after dozens of hours have passed.
It may take time to get used to the stamina system that is required to inflict stronger, quicker attacks, and your hands will strain getting used to the unusual grip of having both block and dodging mapped to the left bumper and trigger, but you soon adjust to the fascinating tension it instils to high-stakes conflict.
(Image credit: MercurySteam) Nerves of steelEmbodying the blacksmith skills key to the game’s identity, you must collect materials around the world to forge new weapons. You have complete control over the type of steel you use, which determines weight, speed, strength, blocking, and more, and once you’ve refined this selection, you must then physically hammer the weapon into shape. The closer to the real shape, the more refined the weapon, and therefore the more you can repair it before it’s unusable.
It’s fun, at first. After a while, it becomes repetitive and time-consuming. If you craft a good enough weapon, you can automatically recraft it to this level without replaying the minigame, but if you wish to improve this stat or build a new weapon, you must spend upwards of five minutes forging, grinding the momentum to a shuddering halt.
It’s one of a few issues holding the game back, many tied to the long legacy leading into this game’s development and the weight of adjusting the game’s design to chase industry trends. Many senior developers on Blades of Fire worked on the mostly forgotten 2001 action title named Severance: Blade of Darkness, which, beyond visual similarities, is often regarded as a precursor to the Dark Souls genre in its careful use of stamina and deliberate action.
Best bitWhile it takes some time to get used to it, getting to grips with this unusual control scheme and observing a difficult boss’ attack patterns to correctly slice, dodge, and weave your way to victory brings about a primal joy that wills you forward towards the next area on your adventure.
While this makes it perhaps unfair to compare a game refining these 2001 ideas to Dark Souls, it’s hard not to see their implementation, and many other mechanics not found in Severance but introduced to this game are clearly inspired by the industry’s wholesale embrace of the beloved FromSoftware title. Players have limited flasks of health potions that can only be restored by resting at anvils, this game’s thematically fitting equivalent to bonfires, and upon death, players must return to the location they were felled in order to rescue their weapon.
Even if we were to credit these ideas to Severance and not an attempt to create a Soulslike adventure, Blades of Fire’s level design and enemies feel best suited to a style of action opposite to the plodding action and unstoppable attack animations of both titles. In battles against undead hordes, you can at times be facing close to a dozen enemies at once, and even your fastest weapons are useless with the rate at which your attacks are interrupted.
As this game lacks the punishment of lost resources or the risk of losing your weapon forever if you die before reclaiming it, recovering your weapon feels more like a chore and an obligatory feature to adhere to the formula than a design suited to the pace of this adventure.
(Image credit: MercurySteam) A search for soulsIt contributed to an overwhelming feeling that the embrace of so many Souls-isms only served to hinder the natural flow of the game, rather than enhance it.
This is before we discuss the game’s cumbersome map, which, through its lack of dimension, can become nearly useless when navigating more complex, multi-level terrain for the next objective.
This is only compounded by the fact that there’s no clear indication in the environment on where to go next, and even the optional objective markers activated by navigating menus and automatically disabled upon clearing that specific objective, unless reactivated, are often useless in more complex multi-level areas. If you’re navigating a multi-floor fortress and miss an inconspicuous door you must unlock with a newly-obtained key, even a marker won’t stop you wandering in circles for 20 minutes or longer, lost and frustrated.
Yet despite my complaints, I felt just enough charm to find myself soldiering forward. There’s an unabashed gamey nature to this world and cast, imbued with a quirkiness reminiscent of mid-budget adventure games abundant in the Xbox 360 and PS3 era, like Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, but non-existent in this modern era of spiraling budgets.
(Image credit: MercurySteam)For all I can complain about Soulslike inspirations that these days induce more groans than excitement, there’s a simplicity to this quest to go and kill the queen while offering just enough mechanical depth without bogging you down in an overwhelming number of unnecessary systems.
You craft weapons, you fight enemies, you move forward. Simple, but the sense of a human hand touching every asset rather than some overcautious executive or an overzealous focus group drew me even to its flaws.
Blades of Fire is charming, even if its soulslike eccentricities were more of a hindrance to the characters and adventure housed within. This blend of retro simplicity and modern flair won’t be the best game you play in 2025, but it’s likely going to be one of the more charming (and as such memorable), and isn’t that just as good?
Should you play Blades of Fire? Play it if...You miss your Xbox 360 or PS3
There’s an indescribable essence to this game that feels like a lost title from the PS3 and 360 generation, modernized with quality-of-life and graphics improvements, giving it a feel unlike many other modern games.
You enjoy customizing your weapons
The gameplay is fun, but key to victory is picking the right choice from dozens of refinements of steel while even customizing the pommel and small of your weapons to your playstyle. Understanding the best way to craft a weapon takes patience.
You aren’t a fan of Dark Souls or soulslikes
While not a soulslike, many mechanics indicative of the famous series are present, and likely won’t gel with players seeking a more fast-paced action adventure.
Accessibility features in Blades of Fire are limited. Camera shake and motion blur can be adjusted, alongside the size and color of subtitles but otherwise, the default text is small, and it lacks many commonplace accessibility features such as colorblind modes.
How I reviewed Blades of FireI played just over 30 hours of the game on a base PS5 model using a standard DualSense controller on standard difficulty, getting all the way through the game to the latter stages of the main story.
I utilized an ASUS VG27AQL1A gaming monitor, while for audio, a mix of Denon speakers and a wireless audio adapter, and AirPods Max were used.
First reviewed May 2025
If you’d have told a 33-year-old Tom Cruise at the 1996 premiere of Mission: Impossible that he’d be promoting — and not just promoting, living — the same film franchise 29 years and seven instalments later, he probably would’ve believed you right there and then.
There are plenty of seemingly impossible things about Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, but Cruise’s commitment to the character of Ethan Hunt is not one of them. Brian De Palma’s big-screen reboot of the 1966 Mission: Impossible TV series was the first to be produced by Cruise’s then-new production company C/W Productions, and the ageless star has since committed to going bigger and better with each subsequent instalment.
The Final Reckoning is, we presume, the last Mission: Impossible movie for some time (maybe ever!), and though it’s certainly no better than what’s come before – in truth, it probably places fifth or sixth in our ranking of the Mission: Impossible movies – it’s most definitely bigger than anything else you’ve seen (or will see) this year.
Back in the saddleThe series' eighth entry picks up where 2023’s Dead Reckoning left off, with Ethan and the rest of the IMF gang still trying to outfox the rogue artificial intelligence system known as 'the Entity'. It’s essentially the same Big Bad as before, except now the Entity is hell-bent on nuclear armageddon, and it’s also started to brainwash small pockets of the populace into supporting its apocalyptic cause (some people just have to be part of a club).
To ensure its own survival when the bombs start to fall, the Entity needs access to a secure digital bunker in South Africa, and it’s here that our heroes hope to trap ChatGPT-on-steroids using a combination of various hard-to-get-hold-of MacGuffins, including an elaborate USB stick buried in the belly of a sunken Russian submarine. So far, so Mission: Impossible.
There are many, many other facets to The Final Reckoning’s convoluted story, which is even more difficult to follow than the plot of the original Mission: Impossible, but the film is essentially a '90s disaster movie dressed up as a commentary on AI and misinformation.
That’s not necessarily unbecoming of the franchise – Ethan has always been dropped into a race against time to save the world – but, to its detriment, The Final Reckoning feels distinctly more grandiose than any other Mission movie before it, with more time devoted to politicking and fate-of-the-world decision-making than to ingenious gadgetry and covert spycraft.
Ethan spends precious little time with his IMF crew in The Final Reckoning (Image credit: Paramount)Mission: Impossible is at its best when Ethan and his band of IMF misfits are infiltrating a famous landmark or pulling off an improbable escape, quipping at each other as they do so (the Burj Khalifa sequence in Ghost Protocol is an all-timer example of that formula in action). The Final Reckoning swaps this playful tone for doom and gloom in a bid to raise the emotional stakes, but the trade-off is a more serious, arguably un-Mission: Impossible-like experience overall.
This sentiment isn’t helped by an exposition-heavy first hour, which jumps between locations, characters, and plot threads like a YouTube recap of the Mission: Impossible series so far. Flashbacks are fine in moderation, but the sheer number of them deployed by director Christopher McQuarrie in the opening moments of The Final Reckoning is an indictment of the film’s unwieldy story.
Getting down to business The underwater sequence is an instant Mission: Impossible classic (Image credit: Paramount)Mercifully, things take a turn for the action-packed about halfway through, when Ethan jumps into the Bering Sea in search of that aforementioned Russian submarine. It’s here that we’re introduced to Captain Bledsoe, played with scene-stealing aplomb by Severance star Tramell Tillman, and the first of two outrageously gripping stunts gets underway.
If you’ve seen any of The Final Reckoning’s trailers or posters, you’ll know that the biplane sequence – shot at 8,000 feet in 140mph winds with no CGI – is being framed as the film’s centerpiece, and while it’s undeniably impressive, the earlier submarine sequence is arguably the bigger highlight. Here, McQuarrie and Cruise use a combination of digital effects and practical wizardry to simulate the inside of a missile-filled submarine at the bottom of the ocean, and the sense of scale and jeopardy the pair achieve is staggering.
Watching Cruise dodge nuclear warheads under life-threatening amounts of pressure will have you, too, feeling like you’re trapped on the ocean floor, especially if you experience this ordeal in the expanded aspect ratio afforded by IMAX.
Quite frankly, The Final Reckoning is saved by its two major set-pieces. They bring a much-needed injection of excitement to an otherwise drawn-out disaster story, and while the film as a whole could do with more action and less situation-room drama, these stunts will remind you why you paid the ticket price. Nobody is doing it like Tom Cruise, and this eighth and potentially final entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise – for all its many shortcomings – hammers home that truth and then some. Cue the theme music!
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning arrives in theaters and IMAX on May 21 (UK) and May 23 (internationally).
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is defending major cuts in the foreign affairs budget as he testifies on Tuesday before the Senate committee where he used to serve.
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Windows 10 users need to be aware of a fresh bug in the latest update for the OS, even though it’s a glitch that’s going to be much more prevalent with business laptops rather than consumer machines.
That’s because if your Windows 10 PC does encounter the problem, it can be quite a nasty one to have to rescue your system from – and you can avoid any potentially technically traumatic episode by simply installing an emergency fix Microsoft has just rushed out.
Windows Latest reported the issue with the May update for Windows 10, which causes an affected PC to fail to install the upgrade, and then run an automatic repair – a process that can happen several times, confusingly.
Adding further to the confusion is that if you have BitLocker or Device Encryption turned on (so the data on your drive is encrypted), you’ll end up at the recovery screen. That recovery process asks for your key ID, and if you don’t have that info to hand, then you’re in something of a pickle, shall we say.
Let’s cover those all-important caveats first, though, the main one being that to be affected, your PC must be running an Intel vPro processor (10th-gen or newer). This is because the bug relates to Intel Trusted Execution Technology (TXT for short) which is part of the vPro array of security measures.
As the name suggests, vPro is a brand of chips mostly used for professional (business) notebooks, but they can be found in consumer laptops, too. As Microsoft notes: “Consumer devices typically do not use Intel vPro processors and are less likely to be impacted by this issue.”
It’s worth checking if your PC has such an Intel vPro chip inside, and if it has, if you haven’t already installed the May update for Windows 10 22H2, whatever you do, push pause on that.
Rather than grabbing the May cumulative update, to avoid the bug in question, make sure you install Microsoft’s emergency patch which was deployed yesterday.
This is KB5061768, which you can only install manually – it won’t be delivered by Windows Update. Get it from Microsoft’s update catalog here, and download the ‘Windows 10 version 1903 and later’ variant which is correct for your PC. (That’s likely the 64-bit (or x64) version – check your processor type in the Device Specifications section of System > About in the Settings app, but if you don’t have a 64-bit CPU and OS, you want the x86 version, ignore the Arm variant).
(Image credit: MAYA LAB / Shutterstock) Breaking down the problem – and what to do if you’re already hit, and locked out of your PCWhat’s actually happening with this glitch? There’s some problem with the May update for Windows 10 which is causing a process (lsass.exe, a security-related service) to be terminated unexpectedly. This is prompting the automatic repair process to run to try and fix things, though as noted above, your Windows 10 PC may make several repeated failed attempts to install the update before it gives up and rolls back to the previous (April) update (hopefully).
That’s messy, but things are worse for those using Device Encryption or BitLocker, who could end up stuck at the recovery screen if they don’t have their recovery key to hand.
So, what happens if you’ve missed the boat to install this emergency fix from Microsoft, as you’ve already installed the May update for Windows 10, and now you can’t get into your system (past the recovery screen) to download and apply said fix?
Well, in this case, Microsoft advises that to start Windows 10 successfully, you’ll need to turn off Intel Trusted Execution Technology and another setting, Intel VT for Direct I/O, in your PC’s BIOS. However, that apparently requires entering your BitLocker recovery key (again, problematic if you don’t have it on hand).
If you’re stuck in this particular dead-end, according to Windows Latest, it’s possible to simply turn off Intel Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) in your BIOS, without touching the other setting (Intel VT), and then you can successfully restart your PC to get back to the desktop.
The first step here is to get into the BIOS, and the method to do this varies depending on your PC (check the manuals supplied with your machine). The key to access the BIOS can be one of a number of possibilities, but it’s often F2, F10, or F12, which you press repeatedly as the system just starts to boot up.
Once in the BIOS, you need to find the Intel TXT (or Trusted Execution Technology) setting. This is likely in Security > Virtualization, or System Security Settings, or some label pertaining to Security or System Configuration. It’ll most likely be a security-related title, so check carefully through any such option screens looking for Intel TXT. When you locate this, turn it off, but as mentioned, you can leave Intel VT for Direct I/O alone.
Now choose the option to save changes to the BIOS and reboot your PC, and you should be back in Windows 10, where you can now install Microsoft’s patch (KB5061768) from the update catalog. Once that’s done, you can go back into your BIOS and switch Intel TXT back on.
All things considered, to avoid any potential messing around like this, it’s a far better idea to install the fix before you grab the May cumulative update for Windows 10.
This is not the first time Microsoft has visited a bug like this on Windows 10 users (or indeed Windows 11 PCs). It’s also worth remembering that if you’re running Windows 11, and you upgrade to the latest version, 24H2, using a clean install, this applies the Device Encryption feature automatically. Note that an in-place upgrade to Windows 11 24H2 won’t do this, only a clean install of Windows 11 24H2. Furthermore, it has to be an installation linked to a Microsoft account, too, as that’s where the encryption recovery key info is saved (which is why you must be very careful about deleting a Microsoft account, as the key vanishes with it).
Device Encryption is basically a ‘lite’ version of BitLocker, providing encryption for Windows 11 Home PCs, but it only covers the data on the main system drive.
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Ransomware remains one of the most disruptive and costly cyber threats facing businesses and public sector organizations. In June 2024, a ransomware attack on Synnovis, an NHS laboratory services provider, resulted in £32.7 million in damages – over seven times its annual profits. This incident caused widespread disruption to medical procedures across London hospitals, further reinforcing the real-world consequences of such attacks.
This is just one example of the many high-profile incidents that have occurred over the years, despite successful efforts by the UK Government and their allies to use various tools to disrupt and counter the operations of ransomware gangs.
One tool under consideration by the UK Government is extending a ban on ransom payments beyond central government to all public sector bodies and Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) operators.
The aim is clear: reducing the financial incentives that sustain ransomware operations. While disrupting the revenue stream for cybercriminals is a logical step, it raises a critical question: will this make the public sector and CNI more resilient?
The pitfalls of paying ransomWhile paying a ransom may seem an appealing way to quickly recover your operations, it is a risky gamble. There is no guarantee that cybercriminals will restore access to systems, refrain from selling your stolen data, or even re-exploit an organization. Furthermore, organizations risk making payments to a sanctioned entity that might have obfuscated their affiliation
If public sector organizations are stripped of the option to pay, they need to be equipped with the resources to defend against and recover from attacks. That might require additional funding to bolster security and resilience programs, timely access to specialist expertise, and the use of real-world threat intelligence to guide decisions. The NHS, for example, presents a particularly complex challenge - could a blanket ban on payments be maintained in cases where a ransomware attack might impact public safety?
Additionally, if ransom payments become increasingly banned, they may be excluded from cyber insurance coverage. Organizations could face steeper premiums as insurers adjust for potentially increased recovery costs. Forensic investigations, system rebuilds, and operational downtime might exceed the cost of a ransom demand.
The supply chain dimension of ransomware attacksComprehensive supply chain security should be a critical part of an organization's resilience strategy. Even if an organization has strong cybersecurity defenses, it is still vulnerable if its suppliers do not.
The government is weighing up whether to extend ransom payment prohibitions to critical suppliers of public sector bodies and CNI. If suppliers fall victim to ransomware, how confident can organizations be that those suppliers can recover quickly without paying?
A ransomware attack on a critical supplier can trigger a domino effect. Many businesses lack visibility into these hidden dependencies, only realizing their exposure when a disruption occurs. A single compromised supplier could paralyze multiple organizations downstream, causing widespread outages and significant business challenges.
Without clear visibility of supply chain risks, businesses can only prepare for a limited range of scenarios and are unable to identify and prepare for risks resulting from dependencies from suppliers existing at the 4th party level and beyond, i.e. subcontractors and suppliers’ suppliers.
Industry-wide collaboration can increase resilienceRegardless of whether ransom payments get banned, the key to enhancing operational resilience to ransomware attacks lies in proactive, collaborative defense. When businesses share information about suppliers, they may spot risks that a single company might miss on its own. By exchanging timely insights, organizations can detect and respond to emerging threats before they escalate into serious incidents.
Mapping out these connections help reveal concentration risks where an attack could cause widespread damage. Organizations may then initiate discussions with targeted suppliers on their ability to recover from a ransomware attack without the ability to pay a ransom.
Additionally, by taking a broad view across the industry, this enables organizations to make informed decisions on their overall supplier base. This may include whether to diversify their set of suppliers to reduce concentration risks or introduce additional controls to reduce exposure to ransomware attacks.
Organizations can better prepare for additional risk scenarios that are only illuminated after consolidating supply chain information with their peers and seeing a comprehensive and holistic view of their supply chain. While many businesses recognize that a supplier might be the limiting factor in their overall security, it is imperative for them to understand that this potential limiting factor may be beyond their current visibility.
Banning ransom payments may remove some of the financial incentives for cybercriminals, but it won’t make ransomware disappear. However, organizations are right to scrutinize their suppliers’ ability to resume operations without paying a ransom. Therefore, the real challenge lies in building organizational resilience – and that requires a shift in mindset.
Businesses must move beyond siloed thinking and treat cybersecurity as a shared responsibility. Only by working collaboratively with peers, suppliers, and regulators, and by broadening visibility across the supply chain to identify and address potential risks, can we reduce the impact of ransomware and make it less viable business model for criminals.
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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
Announced at Microsoft's annual developer conference, Build 2025, GitHub launched a new and updated version of its Copilot AI assistant designed to streamline the integration of computer-aided coding even further.
"GitHub Copilot now includes an asynchronous coding agent, embedded directly in GitHub and accessible from VS Code," the company wrote.
GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke explained how the agent gets to work in the background when you assign a GitHub issue to Copilot or prompt it in VS Code, adding that it enhanced productivity without putting organizations' security at risk.
GitHub's Copilot agent sits quietly in the background, ready to spring into action"Having Copilot on your team doesn’t mean weakening your security posture – existing policies like branch protections still apply in exactly the way you’d expect," Dohmke explained.
The new tool works by booting a secure dev environment via GitHub Actions, cloning the repo, analyzing the codebase and pushing to a draft pull request. Users can observe session logs for greater visibility, validation and progress, with the Copilot agent promising to help across feature implementation, bug fixes, test extensions, refactoring and documentation improvements.
Dohmke also noted that users can give the coding agent access to broader context outside of GitHub by using Model Context Protocol (MCP).
The Copilot agent acts much like a human colleague in that it will tag you for review, where you can then leave a further comment asking it to make more changes, which it processes automatically.
Emphasizing the enterprise-grade security measures, GitHub noted: "The agent’s internet access is tightly limited to a trusted list of destinations that you can customize." GitHub Actions workflows also need developer approval.
Copilot Enterprise and Copilot Pro+ will be the first account types to get access to GitHub's new powerful agent, with each model request the agent makes costing one premium request from June 4, 2025.
GPT-4.1, GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Claude 3.7 Sonnet and Gemini 2.5 Pro each account for one premium request, however more powerful and complex models have considerably higher multipliers. For example, one question using o1 costs 10 premium requests, and GPT-4.5 has a 50x multiplier. On the flip side, Gemini 2.0 Flash has a 0.25x multiplier, meaning four questions cost one premium request.
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