Editor’s note: There is a lot going on in the world of IT, from emerging technologies to digital transformation and new cybersecurity threats. However, we can’t possibly cover it all, so we’ll bring you This Week in IT, a curated summary of IT and enterprise technology news stories each week.
New iPhones to require USB-C charging
Apple confirmed this week that it will comply with European Union lesiglsation setting a common charging standard for mobile phones and other portable electronic devices. Speaking at the Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live conference, Greg Joswiak, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at the tech giant, said the company will comply.
The law will require mobile phones and tablets to support USB-C charging by 2024, so new devices with that standard could come as early as next year. The company is likely to introduce the standard globally, not just within the European Union, CNBC reports.
Ransomware families mature, weaponize vulnerabilities in last two quarters
A new report on ransomware from cybersecurity firm Ivanti finds that vulnerabilities associated with ransomware have grown 466% since 2019, and several vulnerabilities tied to ransomware are not being detected by popular scanners
According to the firm, even federal agencies tasked with cybersecurity are missing some ransomware vulnerabilities, such as CISA, which Ivanti says is missing 124 ransomware vulnerabilities it is Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
In the third quarter, Ivanti identified 13 new vulnerabilities tie to ransomware, bringing the total to 323.
Google Chrome ends support for Windows 7, 8, 8.1 next year
Google announced that it is ending Chrome support for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 early next year, with Chrome 110 scheduled to be released on Feb. 7, 2023, as the last version of Chrome that will work on those operating systems. Users will need to be using Windows 10 or later to continue receiving future Chrome releases.
This matches Microsoft’s end of support for Windows 7 ESU and Windows 8.1 extended support on Jan. 10, 2023. Older versions of Chrome will continue to work, but there will be no updates released, meaning users won’t get new features or security fixes.
Microsoft’s diversity data
Microsoft has released its fourth annual Global Diversity & Inclusion Report on the company’s internal workforce demographics, claiming that the company is more diverse than it ever has been.
According to the company’s own data:
- For the first time, women now make up more than 30% of the Microsoft’s core workforce worldwide at 30.7%, up 1.0 percentage point since last year.
- Employees from racial and ethnic minority communities now make up 53.2% of Microsoft’s core U.S. workforce, up 1.9 percentage points from last year.
- 7.8% of employees in the U.S. self-identified as having a disability. This is an increase of 0.7 percentage points from last year.
- The company says minorities and women earn comparable pay to white employees and men.
Read the company’s blog to learn more about their workforce demographics.
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