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John Hunter, the teacher in Charlottesville, Va., who invented the World Peace Game, talks about a memorable trip his fourth graders took to the Pentagon.

Take advantage of APYs up to 5.30% before it's too late.

Since last November, 12 lawsuits have been filed against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs for sexual and physical assault. Here's who is officially involved in the allegations.

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Israel’s military dropped tens of thousands of bombs on Gaza in a year. This is a look at one airstrike, the lives it upended and the rights group's investigation saying it's a possible war crime.

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With each launch, SpaceX has been discharging tens of thousands of gallons of industrial wastewater into sensitive wetlands. Environmentalists say an increase in launches will only make things worse.

(Image credit: Verónica Gabriela Cárdenas for NPR)

“Research has been consistent over time that voter fraud is infinitesimally rare,” one expert tells NPR.

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America is experiencing its worst whooping cough outbreak in a decade. Experts say there's a cyclical nature to outbreaks like this but that the timing was altered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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After Hurricane Helene flooded an IV fluid factory in North Carolina, the government and industry are trying to mitigate shortages.

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Also, who is playing Trump in a movie? Who's hitting the podcast circuit? Will any of this matter in 80,000 years? Plus: TWO questions about Nobel Prizes!

It has no steering wheel, no pedals and no charging port. The Tesla Cybecab (and the boxy Robovan) was designed from the ground up to be a fully autonomous robo-taxi.

Imagine running a race with shoes that are just a bit too small. At first, they feel comfortable, giving you the grip and support you need to forge ahead. But as the race goes on, the tightness starts to pinch, slowing you down and making every step more painful, restricting your ability to succeed. This restriction is the reality many small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) face when they rely on basic accounting software like QuickBooks. What once felt like the perfect fit for a company just starting can quickly become a hindrance as the business grows, creating barriers to efficiency, decision-making and, ultimately, growth.

While QuickBooks and similar tools are popular choices for startups and young companies, it can be challenging to recognize the signs that these systems are no longer sufficient. As the complexities of running a business expand, the software that once seemed capable can start to show its limitations, including inefficient manual data entry, system bog down, lack of synchronization and an inability to scale to meet new demands or market shifts. How can SMBs recognize when it’s time to graduate to a more robust solution, and what steps should they take to ensure a seamless transition?

Common Growth Challenges

SMBs are the lifeblood of our economy, representing 99.9% of all U.S. businesses. Many of these businesses face a range of challenges as they scale and grow. By understanding these four telltale signs, companies can better identify when they are outgrowing their current systems and need to consider alternative solutions that better empower them to break through growth ceilings.

The first significant sign and source of pain for expanding SMBs is difficulty generating detailed, real-time financial and operational reports. Traditional accounting software often can’t provide the insights needed for strategic decision-making. For instance, a growing company might struggle to create customized reports that provide insights into specific product lines, regional performance or customer profitability. This limitation can delay decision-making, cause missed opportunities and reduce overall competitive edge.

The second sign comes as SMBs expand and find that their existing software can’t effectively consolidate data across multiple entities. Financial data might need to be manually compiled from various sources or instances and administrators of QuickBooks, resulting in time-consuming processes, a higher risk of errors and inconsistent data across the organization. This lack of centralized data can make it challenging to get a clear picture of overall financial health or areas needing improvement.

The third sign comes from overall growth that spurs an increase in transaction volumes and complexity. Traditional accounting systems often lack the scalability to handle this increase efficiently. A business experiencing rapid growth might face transaction processing delays, data server capacity limitations, data entry bottlenecks and financial inaccuracies. These issues can impact cash flow management and jeopardize customer satisfaction.

The fourth sign is that the existing system is missing industry-specific tools needed to succeed in the company’s sector and keep pace with a competitive market. Businesses may find themselves cobbling together a patched solution to address industry challenges without full integration. This makeshift solution can result in disparate systems, mismatched data and the grueling task of manual data entry. For instance, a manufacturing company using a basic ERP that lacks specialized production scheduling or inventory management tools is forced to rely on disconnected software or manual processes to fill the gaps. This reliance hinders efficiency and competitiveness.

The Hidden Costs of Sticking with Outdated Software

As SMBs grow, the risks associated with outdated software become more evident. Beyond these signs and the immediate pain points like slow transaction processing and time-consuming reporting, the costs of not upgrading can be significant and far-reaching, impacting a business’s bottom line.

Basic accounting systems often lack advanced security features, making them more susceptible to cyberattacks and data breaches. With cyber threats on the rise, these vulnerabilities could result in compromised financial information, loss of sensitive customer data and costly recovery efforts.

Furthermore, relying on outdated software can increase inefficiencies across various business functions. Manual data entry, multiple software integrations and disjointed workflows can waste valuable time and resources. Over time, these inefficiencies accumulate, leading to higher operational costs, reduced productivity and missed growth opportunities.

Tips for Transitioning to a Comprehensive Business Management Solution

The first step is recognizing these pain points and acknowledging the risk of not acting. The next is to develop a strategic plan with clear, actionable steps to transition to a more effective and robust business management solution. SMBs should consider these tips when developing this plan:

Assess Your Business Needs and Objectives: Business leaders must thoroughly assess their current software’s limitations and identify specific needs, such as better reporting, project management, enhanced security or real-time inventory management. Creating a checklist of must-have features can help identify the right system.

Evaluate Solutions: When looking for a new system, consider the available options regarding scalability, data visibility and accuracy, integration capabilities and industry-specific features. Researching multiple players and comparing their features, customer reviews, and pricing is essential to ensure that decision-makers do their due diligence.

Assess the Level of Community Support: Moving to a new system has tremendous benefits but also requires time and resources. SMBs want to be sure that after implementing a new system, they utilize ongoing support processes, resources and channels to learn best practices, get free training and engage with developers and fellow customers to ensure the company gets the most from its technology investment. Given that there is an expected learning curve to adopting new technology, this training provides a more seamless transition to the new system and helps team members become more efficient.

Plan for Data Migration: Creating a detailed plan for migrating existing data from the old system to the new one is imperative for a seamless transition. Consulting with an IT professional or implementation partner to avoid data loss or corruption during data migration can help mitigate risks.

As SMBs grow, they inevitably face new challenges that their initial tools and software may not be equipped to handle. Basic accounting software like QuickBooks, while sufficient in the early stages, can become a barrier to growth due to its scalability, reporting, data management and security limitations. Recognizing the signs that your business has outgrown its current system is crucial to avoiding these growth barriers and maintaining competitiveness.

We list the best UK small business accounting 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

Elon Musk put Tesla's Optimus robots to work at the 'We, Robot' event. Here's everything you need to know.

The $373,000 RM65-01 McLaren W1 timepiece has the most complicated automatic movement the brand has ever produced.

Apple's second-gen stylus is now available for just a dollar more than its lowest-ever price.

With less than a month away before the updated landmark Network and Information Security (NIS2) Directive deadline, organizations across the EU are preparing for the new regulation to come into full force on the 17th October. However, it doesn’t stop there. On the 17th January 2025, the new Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) will also come into effect for financial organizations and the sector’s third-party IT suppliers.

Organizations across the EU, and those based elsewhere that do business with the region’s entities, are facing increasing pressure to align with these regulatory requirements. The convergence of these frameworks looks to impact over 170,000 European organizations in total — with 150,000 organizations affected by the NIS2 and estimates suggesting over 22,000 financial entities and ICT service providers impacted by DORA.

What are NIS2 and DORA?

NIS2 aims to provide comprehensive EU-wide legislation on cybersecurity. It expands the scope of the NIS Directive and introduces stricter security requirements for 18 sectors of business. Similar to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), NIS2 will work to bridge cybersecurity measures and approaches across organizations to help fortify European digital infrastructure.

DORA is a sector-specific directive for financial institutions, targeting their approach to operational risk. DORA has two clear objectives. Firstly, to tighten IT risk management across the financial services sector. Secondly, to harmonize current IT risk management regulations already in existence across EU member states.

DORA leaves no room for discretion at the member state level, while NIS2 is a directive that allows countries to develop rules based on their specific national needs.

Compliance strategies for NIS2 and DORA

While it might seem a lot to put on businesses that are already struggling in a rocky economic situation, regulations such as these are brought about in response to the growing threat landscape, and implementing the changes required will bring new opportunities to enhance cyber resilience and overall security posture. To take advantage of these opportunities and stay ahead of the incoming regulations, below are nine compliance strategies organizations must adopt:

Comprehensive risk assessment: Organizations should conduct a thorough risk assessment that covers the requirements of both NIS2 and DORA. This should include identifying critical assets, assessing potential threats, and evaluating the impact of various risk scenarios. A unified risk assessment approach helps in identifying common vulnerabilities and developing a streamlined mitigation strategy.

Education and training: Due to limited resources, organizations often find themselves particularly vulnerable to cyber threats. But even when resources are limited, businesses can implement continuous training and awareness sessions, as well as create and implement well-defined security measures. With this regular training, organizations can foster the necessary culture for compliance and security awareness.

Adopting a shared responsibility model: In recent years, cybercriminals have advanced their tactics, putting businesses under immense pressure to act quickly. A way to address these concerns is to adopt a shared responsibility model to ensure security policies and practices are up to date and applied evenly across organisations – leaving no stone unturned. An active compliance strategy starts with clearly defined roles, responsibilities and objectives documented within corporate policy, in line with the NIS2 and DORA directives.

Integrated incident reporting: Organizations need to put in place a coherent, unified incident response plan to meet the requirements of both NIS2 and DORA, given they both mandate incident reporting mechanisms. This includes streamlining communication channels effectively, transparent communications with consumers and ensuring timely reporting to relevant authorities.

Making cybersecurity a core value: Security leaders must work hard to demystify cybersecurity and demonstrate how a few behavioral changes can protect the whole organization in line with NIS2 and DORA. It is the responsibility of senior leadership teams to embed security and privacy across data-related initiatives from the start.

Cross-framework governance: Firms must consider creating dedicated compliance teams or integrating responsibilities into existing risk management functions to oversee compliance in accordance with multiple frameworks. In creating a clear governance structure, organizations can maintain consistency – avoiding duplication of efforts and ensuring accountability.

Cyber resilience testing: There is no compliance without regular testing of systems and processes. Organisations must develop a comprehensive testing schedule that includes penetration testing, red teaming and business continuity exercises to meet the requirements of both NIS2 and DORA. Organizations must align their testing procedures with the frameworks’ requirements to ensure a more resilient security posture.

Leveraging technology: To facilitate compliance management, firms must utilize and imbed technological solutions into their overall security strategy. This includes data-led solutions for risk assessment, incident management and resilience testing. To ensure more accurate reporting, automated solutions must be considered to help streamline processes and reduce manual efforts.

Developing trust and transparency: For trust to exist, organizations must, in line with NIS2 and DORA, share how the business handles data and personal information including how it is secured. Providing this information will go a long way in empowering wider cybersecurity initiatives. A robust security response extends far beyond data protection, it encompasses regulators, employees, consumers and more. Therefore, ongoing compliance can mean the difference between a necessary evil and a trusted partner.

Turning compliance challenges into opportunities

As the deadlines for NIS2 and DORA approach, adopting a unified approach to risk management, incident reporting, resilience testing, technology and more, can help organizations navigate the regulatory landscape effectively. The goal is not just to comply with these frameworks but to leverage them as catalysts for enhancing overall security posture and operational resilience.

We've listed the best network monitoring tools.

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

It's the latest attack in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province and comes days ahead of a major security summit being hosted in the capital. No group claimed immediate responsibility for the attack.

(Image credit: AP)

Canada-based TD Bank pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, the largest bank in U.S. history to do so, Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

(Image credit: Mark Schiefelbein)

The education sector continues to be plagued by malicious threats, with new research from Microsoft claiming nearly half (43%) of UK higher education institutions experience weekly breaches or cyberattacks.

The company's latest Cyber Signals Report claims Universities are prime targets for malware, IoT vulnerabilities, and phishing - with an average of 2,507 cyberattack attempts per week according to the report.

This makes education the third most targeted industry for attacks, behind manufacturing and consumer retail.

A high price

The report identified email systems and networks as a vulnerability for universities since they offer wide spaces for compromise. The need for constant communication both within and outside of the school networks leaves space for external user attacks.

Since higher education facilities hold sensitive information on students and staff but don’t have huge cybersecurity budgets, they have become an attractive target for threat actors who look to exfiltrate the data for ransom.

Recent research shows schools and universities are paying higher ransoms than ever before, with over two-thirds (67%) of IT leaders working in higher education reporting ending up paying more than what hackers originally asked for.

“Educational institutions feel a sense of responsibility to remain open and continue providing their services to their communities. These two factors could be contributing to why victims feel so much pressure to pay,” said Chester Wisniewski, Director at Sophos.

Microsoft’s research also uncovered nation state actors which have targeted education institutions. For example, Iranian state actors such as Peach Sandstorm and Mint Sandstorm have both been observed to use social engineering attacks.

“The types of threats that we’re seeing, the types of events that are occurring in higher education, are much more aggressive by cyber adversaries,” commented Davis McMorries, Chief Information Security Officer at Oregon State University.

In particular, around 15000 malicious QR code emails target the industry every day.

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