New Study Highlights The Skills Gap In The Cybersecurity Industry Due To Shortage Of Qualified Professionals

A new study is shedding light on the helpless state of the cybersecurity industry.

The report found a major skills gap in the industry due to a lack of qualified professionals who had the necessary talent to tackle major situations or challenges. And it’s shocking to note how the gap continued to get bigger with time, reaching a new high in the past year.

Last year, we saw global trends speak of a deficit of more than 2.7 million professionals needed to better overcome the obstacles or challenges. Now, the gap has gone on further to reach 3.4 million as of 2022.

This study comes to us thanks to the ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce. They mentioned how just 12,000 people spoke of a huge workforce gap and seeing the gap worsen by 26% each quarter is alarming. Remember, issues in the digital related to cybersecurity are plenty and if you don’t have the manpower to handle the mess, it’s definitely concerning.

So where does the issue arise and how can it get better?

The CEO for ISC spoke about how it was partly linked to cybersecurity moving past things like a slowdown in the year 2020 and that’s when we saw the pandemic peak. He claims the gap arose during the pandemic and the recovery period after that just couldn’t be ignored.

A lot of digital transformations may be taking place in the back ends of offices. And hiring has decreased as a result of that, not only in the world of cybersecurity but beyond that too. People are being forced to reap the consequences.

If you look at the brighter side of it, the demand for such jobs has increased due to shortage and that can be encouraging to some. The gap is allowing people to realize that cybersecurity is a valued profession and those that have such talent in their firms need to value them further.

On the other hand, the report has gone on to speak about how 75% of companies are looking at the picture positively and hope to be optimistic about growth and taking on board more cybersecurity experts by next year. And that is aligned with trends linked to growth in the hiring process which is estimated to be 11%.

At that time, the industry did grow in terms of skilled workers by 11% and that’s almost a growth of 450,000 and needs to be celebrated. Incorporating a staggering 500,000 individuals into the workforce is a huge investment in terms of cybersecurity and the world of defense.

But the only cause for this deficit in workers is a shortage of skills isn’t the biggest issue out there today. So many firms are struggling to keep up with things like the current economic downturn. There are some low wages, poor budgets in place, and just a lack of marketing strategies like remote working. They all have a major role that are leading to the disaster.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

New Study Finds Those With Darker Personalities Will Embrace Misinformation More Readily

A new study is going on to make some bizarre but interesting claims about people with darker personalities.

Those individuals who display such dark characteristics or like to bend the reality of the matter to their own preferences are going to be more accepting of fake news, says a new study.

The report comes to us thanks to researchers at the Human-Computer Media Institute that discussed more details about those with darker traits. Seeing them reject all types of concrete facts is just a part of their nature and it’s hard for them to change.

They would much rather pick out a narrative that suits their needs and wants than go about accepting the truth. Moreover, it’s characteristics like narcissism and psychopathy that make them assume that themes like media and politics are full of nothing but lies. They believe such endeavors are out to benefit things of their own interest.

As a whole, the fewer people who went on to believe in facts, the lower the probability of them distinguishing one true statement from the other. And it’s interesting to see how the darker personality statement was getting stronger.

This particular group of individuals who are more self-interested or self-invested at the expense of others, tend to feel that there’s a lot of doubt between scientific findings and personal thoughts.

Some of the beliefs they have are post-factual as they like to believe things that only feel true to them as confirmed by one psychologist at the university. Moreover, these are the same people who can’t delineate between things like fact and fiction. They struggle with it and believe a lot of the fake news is out there.

The best example is them not wearing a face mask because they feel the virus does not exist and it was just falsely created or hyped up by the media. At times, it’s awfully selfish behavior coming from their way as it’s at the cost of others’ sanity, health, and peace of mind.

For the study, they gave nearly 600 different people short media headlines before they really tested them for accuracy. In addition to that, each study participant was even given some detailed survey forms to fill out that had queries linked to their gut feelings and how frequently they end up assuming people are making up things.

And last but not least, the study went on to decipher how frequently the participant was willing to add their own twist of words or beliefs into it.

This is when the authors came to the final judgment that people aren’t going to believe in things like power linked to sound evidence. Moreover, even fact-checkers are going to make them sway their final decision and that’s just how adamant they are in this regard.

This gives rise to the term epistemic beliefs. And it’s related to the set of individual beliefs regarding a person’s nature linked to human knowledge. To put it simply, it’s like how a certain individual believes any other can know something and what exactly the criteria for judgment can be as far as knowledge is concerned.

There comes a point in time when you have to accept the truth of the matter. People are bound to have the most different opinions out there today. And some are going to be getting more support than all others. But if only people understood that better, then life would be simpler.

Remember, people aren’t willing to take steps like these, and in matters linked to climate change or even the pandemic, it’s tough. Arguments can have serious consequences in this manner.

Illustration: Freepik/Pikisuperstar

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Microsoft Edge Is Working On Revamping Its ‘Find On Page’ With Exclusive Features

It’s been a long time coming since we heard more about the Microsoft Edge browser getting a revamp. And here we are speaking of new reports that confirm just that.

The tech giant is busy trying to enhance its ‘Find on Page’ functionality seen on the browser. For now, the current version entails simple search features that enable users to look for similar words, phrases, or simple characters.

But in the future, you can expect to see much more advancements as far as searches are concerned. This includes the likes of match cases, diacritics, searching for relatable words, and even whole words.

For now, the browser is currently rolling these out for a selected minority as a part of their test on the Canary channel. But that will bring forward a series of options that can be toggled in an on and off position by a simple click of the button including Control F. This way, you can use the ‘find on page’ offering that’s available for testers present on the channel.

Simply going to the main menu and adding a series of new options is the way to go and it will entail some great offerings.

The feature for ‘include related matches’ will let browsers highlight different words with phrases that could be related to any one of your requests. Next up, Match Cases allows users to search for items that are case sensitive like looking for particular words that are uppercased.

And then you’ve got a match whole world, where the option allows for the finding of words while omitting complete parts of terms that aren’t a part of your request. Lastly, the feature for match diuretics is designed to enable users to find characters that are accented.

So as you can see, you can now better customize searches to better suit your preferences. And the option may end up pairing so well with the Quick Accent Tool found across PowerToys.

Those interested in the new features can go ahead and search for them on Microsoft Edge’s Canary. You can install this through the main website. The browser is up for grabs on different platforms like Windows, Linux, and even macOS.

But remember, when using Canary, a little patience can go a long way. And that’s because not all new users are given the latest features immediately. It takes a while for the rollout to occur so you might need to wait for a little bit to attain it.

H/T: u/Leopeva64-2

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Meta Wants WhatsApp To Start Making Real Money With Plans Of A ‘Super-App’ On The Cards

A new urgency has suddenly arisen in Meta to try and get its texting platform WhatsApp to generate more revenue. The news comes as the company deals with great criticism surrounding its metaverse.

We saw Facebook be rebranded as Meta and take over WhatsApp for a staggering $22 billion. And in case you didn’t already know, it’s a huge sum of money. Over a span of five years, we’ve seen it increase by nearly 400 million users, and today, it’s the company’s biggest acquisition. Yet, there are concerns because it’s fallen short in terms of recouping the initial investment made.

As a whole, the app has produced just $29 billion as far as revenue is concerned. And most of it has to do with digital advertising. That’s a drop from the results seen in 2021 and can be called the company’s first decline as far as revenue is concerned.

So the news of slow growth, fewer users, and poor stocks isn’t what Meta had planned for. And now, it makes sense why authorities are trying to unlock the app’s real potential and may convert it into a starting ‘super-app’, something that’s similar to the likes of WeChat from China.

But it’s not going to be easy as announced by the company’s VP for Meta’s business messaging. It’s going to be a real challenge to create an entity above that seen on the current existing platform.

Meta is thinking outside the box and if that means pushing boundaries to create the best business marketing plans out there, then so be it. Think along the lines of enterprises using the WhatsApp platform to chat, market, and serve their clients via texts. As it is, the pandemic proved to us how so many people around the globe were keen on using the app for their business communications.

So it’s used heavily but severely under-monetized, where’s the logic in that? It appears that there was a point where WhatsApp simply reached a point of frustration. But now, Meta’s heads are trying to provide new models for monetization such as ads.

Currently, advertisers are the firm’s best bet at revenue generation. They’re paying for messages that prompt texts via the app. This is better-called click-to-message or click-for WhatsApp ads. It’s a type of advertising but just not like what was seen a few years back, which had to be aborted.

But the app has been in this position before and experts feel that it could have started to make revenue in huge amounts a while back. So is it really too late now, well, experts believe yes? It’s confusing why it took so many people this much time to realize that it’s struggling and needs to make some real money.

At the start, WhatsApp was hailed as a billion-person entity that was on the search for making business. Today, it’s a two billion-person entity and still has trouble finding the right business strategy.

While classic means for digital advertising worked well for Facebook, it proved to be a disaster for WhatsApp and now, the app is using other means to get revenue. This means mining the behaviors of others on the app, mostly small-scale businesses situated in the international market that are sending texts to their customers. Similarly, they’re filling up orders and even conducting operations via the app in places like Brazil, Mexico, India, and Indonesia. These happen to be the app’s biggest global markets so it’s a great situation.

WhatsApp’s executives also would like to create more revenue via API business models and even make sales from customer service software. It won't be easy but it’s high time such experiments were done to get the app churning money.

We can envision the app getting a hold of some exciting new features that assist it in following in the footsteps of a Super app like WeChat. It’s a huge possibility where users can text, order, purchase, and even pay through a single app. But we won’t lie, the term ‘super-app’ is known as a taboo term and many avoid its usage. Let’s see if the plans really do unfold for the better and we’ll keep you updated.

H/T: Insider

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Here’s How Google’s Latest Algorithm Update Affects UK Publishers

A number of websites in the UK that publish news saw their viewership dropping, and that was cause for concern because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up making it harder for them to stay up and running. It turns out that Google’s recent update to its search algorithm may have had a role to play in hampering their growth with all things having been considered and taken into account.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that the Ladbible, a youth oriented publishing platform, saw the greatest hit of all, reports Pressgazette based on Sistrix data. It saw its Google search rankings plummet by as much as 52%, plunging from 3.8 prior to the algorithm change to just 1.2 after it was updated. Two platforms owned by DMGT, namely "The i" and Mail Online also saw their viewership drop after their rankings fell by 37%.

Mail Online’s drop was the most drastic of all in terms of overall points. Prior to the change in the algorithm they had a search engine score of around 76.2. This fell by 28 points to just 48.2, so while Ladbible’s percentage decrease was higher, Mail Online’s was more severe from a purely points based frame of reference.

The changes that Google made to its algorithm in September represented the second time that the tech juggernaut has done something of this sort in 2022. Since Google is the ultimate arbiter of who gets the most visibility, failing to adapt their approach to the updates can make publishers reach fewer readers than might have been the case otherwise.

The purpose behind this update was to make it harder for publishers to optimize their content for the search engine and instead force them to optimize for the readers themselves. However, most publishers have claimed that only the lowest quality sites that were basically just spam were removed. Most other sites still have poor content, and sites that offer high quality content that is read by many users got penalized despite the supposed aim of this change.

It is estimated that major news sites lost an average of 40% of their traffic in a few cases. Some are claiming that Google is prioritizing progressive stories and content, and it is downgrading content that may have a conservative or right wing slant. If that is true, it would suggest that Google is heavily biased in terms of what sites it pushes and which sites it buries deep inside of its SERP.

Interestingly, some sites have actually managed to become more visible since the update went into effect. The Sun newspaper, a popular tabloid in the UK, fully expected a decline in visibility, yet they actually experienced a 3% bump.

Meanwhile, news sources like the Guardian seem to have benefited tremendously from this update. The Guardian saw a 5% increase of 14 points, bringing its SEO score from 253 to 267. Some sites have seen their fortunes improve thanks to this update, whereas others are complaining that it has affected them negatively. That suggests that this algorithm update is a bit of a mixed bag as of right now.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Consumers Spend $1.5 Billion on Mobile Games Every Week

The mobile gaming industry has become phenomenally large these past few years, but in spite of the fact that this is the case it’s growth rate doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of slowing down. Data.ai, formerly known as App Annie, recently put out a report that showed some interesting statistics about the third quarter of 2022 that sheds some light on the state of the industry.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that gamers are spending well over $1.5 billion on gaming apps every single week, or $1.54 billion to be precise. This money isn’t all going to legacy games either, with around 1.1 billion new games being downloaded on a weekly basis as well with all things having been considered and taken into account.

This suggests that the mobile gaming industry has grown by 25% since 2019, and while this year’s revenue is slightly lower than last year’s, this data shows that the gaming industry will continue to get larger. Mobile games now represent 60% of the $222 billion in revenue that games are expected to bring in this year, and that means that these types of games are becoming more relevant than might have been the case otherwise.

Google Play is quite reliant on mobile games to bolster their revenues, bringing in $11.4 billion in the third quarter of 2022 from games alone. Apple, on the other hand, brought in almost double that with $21 billion, but that only represents half of Apple’s App Store revenue whereas mobile games comprised as much as 65% of the revenues from the Google Play Store.

Mobile users are clearly looking for casual games because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up helping them pass the time. Subway Surfers is a good choice, and it has managed to become the most popular game on any app downloading platform. It will be interesting to see where the mobile gaming industry goes from here on out, and if current trends continue to hold.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

As the Holiday season approaches, early shoppers are the main target of marketers

The Holiday season as it approaches is one of the biggest events for brands and is the greatest source of revenue for them that could make up for losses made any time in the past year. This season also presents heaven for shoppers as well who are given unlimited discounts and coupons to spend on their favorite stores.

And according to a new study by Cision, customers are ready for the holiday season and are gearing up to do some early holiday shopping.

As per the report, online conversations about early holiday shopping on social media platforms increased by 62% and rose to a height not seen since 2020. There was a 12% rise recorded in favor of Shopping and negative ones rose by 15%. The negative comments according to Cision consisted mainly of the cons of e-Commerce which included Inflation and supply chain.

Entertainment has come back to its top place in verticals, after coming back from third place in 2021 because of the fear that shipping will be delayed. This is something that happens very less and with big brands, the chances of this ever happening are 1 in 50 at least. So, let the shoppers know that they will have to face this fear very rarely.

Following that is Home & Gardens, which used to be in first place in 2021 but sadly, its place has been taken by Entertainment. In third place is Food and Grocery and even though it has been facing some problems it has managed to stay on its feet neither moving up nor down the ladder. Lastly, in fourth place was Clothing and Sports.

Most marketers have adopted the technique of giving their consumers what they want in a bid to encourage early shopping. They have sent out price match guarantees, extended return windows, and exclusive partnerships, according to Chelsea Mirkin who is the Head of Global Analysis at Cision. And so far, it looks like they have succeeded in their mission.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World