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Spiria Tech Recap - № 367 - Ransomware no longer pays, Microsoft+OpenAI, Galaxy S23, MusicLM, Windows 10, and PS5

February 3, 2023.

Too much information is too much, it seems. Spiria now briefs you on essential news items you might have missed lately:

Ransomware no longer pays

Ransomware.

© iStock.

Ransomware, the malware that hijacks your data by encrypting it, isn't as profitable as it used to be, according to two new studies. Attackers’ profits, along with the number of victims who pay up, have dropped drastically in 2022. Adding payouts to cryptocurrency addresses linked to ransomware attacks shows that transfers have fallen from $766 million USD in 2021 to $457 million USD last year, says Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm. Cybersecurity analysis company Coveware confirms this downward trend, noting that victims who cough up fell from 85% in the first quarter of 2019 to 37% in the fourth quarter of 2022. The company lists several reasons for the evolution of the “ransom market”: businesses are better prepared and are investing more in IT security, law enforcement has improved in ransomware collection, and major digital criminals have been locked up.

In addition to the usual best practices in terms of cybersecurity (up-to-date systems and software, antivirus software, firewalls, employee training, etc.), savvy companies also set up an incident response plan: in the event of a ransomware attack, a well-prepared response plan helps contain the attack and recover quickly. This plan is based in part on a solid system of incremental backups that allows you to quickly recover your data.

Ars Technica, Kevin Purdy, “Ransomware victims are refusing to pay, tanking attackers’ profits.”

2023-01-23

Microsoft invests heavily in OpenAI

Mountain View, USA.

Mountain View, USA. © iStock.

Founded in 2015, OpenAI is behind several successful generative artificial intelligence technologies, including DALL-E image synthesis, the chatbot ChatGPT (based on GPT3), and GitHub Copilot, which helps developers write computer code. Microsoft already supported the company financially on several occasions, including a $1 billion USD investment in 2019, and it has started integrating OpenAI technologies into its products and in Azure most recently. News also mentions Microsoft's plans to soon integrate ChatGPT into its Bing search engine.

Microsoft recently announced that it will extend its long-term partnership with OpenAI with a “multiyear, multibillion dollar investment.” “We formed our partnership with OpenAI around a shared ambition to responsibly advance cutting-edge AI research and democratize AI as a new technology platform,” says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. “The past three years of our partnership have been great,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, in a press release. “Microsoft shares our values and we are excited to continue our independent research and work toward creating advanced AI that benefits everyone.” The previous week, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Satya Nadella said he believed we were entering a golden age of AI that will redefine work and business as we know them.

Ars Technica, Benj Edwards, “OpenAI and Microsoft announce extended, multi-billion-dollar partnership.”

2023-01-23

Microsoft takes Windows 10 off the shelves

Windows 10.

Paris, France. © iStock.

An era comes to an end. In late January, Microsoft will stop selling licenses for Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro on its website. While Windows 10 will receive official support, with security updates promised until at least October 2025, Microsoft strongly urges anyone buying or building a new PC to use the new Windows 11 instead. Despite its venerable age of seven years, Windows 10 remains the most popular version of Windows, with a global market share of 67.95% in December 2022, compared to 16.97% for Windows 11, according to StatCounter.

Although Microsoft is ending direct-to-consumer sales of Windows 10 through its online store, there are still plenty of other ways to download the operating system or buy it on DVD. Physical copies will be available for some time at stores like Best Buy and Staples/Bureau en Gros, or from third-party resellers on the Internet. With a key, you will be able to activate Windows 10 as long as it is supported by Microsoft.

The Verge, Tom Warren, “Microsoft to stop selling Windows 10 downloads on January 31st.”

Tom’s Hardware, Brandon Hill, “Microsoft will end sale of Windows 10 licenses to consumers this month.”

2023-01-23

New Samsung Galaxy S23

Tae Moon Roh.

Tae Moon Roh. © Samsung.

At the start of each year, Samsung revamps its high-end Android phones. As usual, the series comes in three models: the 6.1-inch Galaxy S23, the 6.6-inch S23 Plus, and the 6.8-inch S23 Ultra. What sets this new generation apart is Samsung’s new policy on processors. Previously, Galaxy S series phones in different countries came with different processors. Typically, phones sold in the United States, China, Japan and Latin America were equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon chips, while Europe and other parts of the world got Samsung Exynos chips. But the Exynos chip doesn’t perform as well as the Qualcomm chip, and this irked fans who felt they were getting a lesser phone than the ones available elsewhere./p>

The S23 marks a turning point. Samsung listened to its customers with the decision that the Samsung chip won’t be installed on any high-end device — the Exynos is now limited to mid-range models. All S23 models this year feature the latest generation Qualcomm chips, “Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy”, which have a slightly higher clock speed (3.36GHz) compared to the 8 Gen 2 standard’s speed (3.2GHz).

Follows that the base model is cheaper, with 128GB of base storage, no ultra-wideband (UWB) support and 25W wired charging, whereas the S23 Plus and Ultra offer 256GB as standard and 45W charging. The Ultra model can be pushed up to 12GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The phones can be pre-ordered today and will be available from all major carriers and electronics stores on February 17. Prices, which aren’t showing signs of inflation, remain identical to those of the S22 generation: 1,100 CAD for the S23, 1,400 CAD for the S23 Plus and 1,650 CAD for the S23 Ultra.

Ars Technica, Ron Amadeo, “Samsung Galaxy S23 is official, with special-edition Qualcomm chip.”

2023-02-01

A new generative AI model that creates music

DJ with headphones under UV lights.

© iStock.

Google researchers revealed MusicLM, a new generative AI model that writes music from textual descriptions. Think “a fusion of reggaeton and electronic dance music, with a spacey, otherworldly sound", for example. It can also transcribe a hummed melody into different musical styles and produce tunes that last up to five minutes. Google says that MusicLM outdoes previous AI music generators in terms of audio quality and adherence to text-based primers. On the MusicLM demo GitHub page, Google provides plenty of examples of the AI model in action, creating audio based on rich captions that describe sensations the music would produce. According to the researchers, MusicLM proposes different musical genres, various skill levels and ambiances (a Caribbean beach, the gym), and historical periods (an ’80s club), etc.

Google researchers are fully aware of MusicLM’s possible impacts, highlighting “the potential diversion of creative content”, biases against cultures underrepresented in the training data, and possible cultural appropriation. Therefore, Google insists on the need for further work on these issues and does not intend to release the models quite yet.

Ars Technica, Benj Edwards, “MusicLM: Google AI generates music in various genres at 24 kHz.”

2023-01-30

All good for the PS5

PlayStation 5.

PlayStation 5. © iStock.

The shortage of PlayStation5 game consoles seems a thing of the past. Sony's latest earnings release reveals that the console just had its best-ever quarter, with 7.1 million units shipped in the last three months of 2022. This is almost double the 3.9 million PS5 units sold in the same quarter of the previous year. Sony has now shipped a total of 32.1 million consoles since its launch in November 2020. Given the shortages in supply chains, this is an impressive achievement, but it could have been even better under other circumstances. Sony managed to ship just under 38 million PS4s over the same period. Isabelle Tomatis, VP of Brand, Hardware and Peripherals at Sony Interactive Entertainment, confirms that the shortage is easing: “If you’re looking to purchase a PS5 console, you should now have a much easier time finding one at retailers globally.” Sony also mentioned a recovery in the number of users of the PlayStation Plus service in Q4. Customer levels had dropped following some confusion caused by a change in the price structure and features of the service in June 2022.

The Verge, Jon Porter, “Sony’s PS5 just had its biggest quarter of sales since release.”

2023-01-30