Instagram Rolls Out Privacy-Focused Feature: Clearing Search History

Instagram is rolling out a privacy-focused feature that allows users to automatically clear their search history. This feature brings convenience and privacy to users, giving them control over their past searches and the ability to customize the duration of their search history.

The new feature lets users choose from various options to clear their search history. Users can opt for a shorter duration such as 3, 7, or 14 days, or they can stick with the default 30-day option. This flexibility empowers individuals to decide how long they want their search history to be stored.

Clearing search history has multiple benefits. First and foremost, it enhances privacy. As users browse and search for various content on Instagram, their search history can reveal their interests, preferences, and sometimes even personal information. With the new feature, users can now easily wipe away this information, ensuring their privacy is protected.

You can access this new option by going to Settings and Privacy> Account centre> Your information and permissions> Search history.

— ㆅ (@howfxr) May 16, 2023

Moreover, clearing search history can clear out the search function. Over time, as users continue to search for different accounts, hashtags, or locations, their search history can become overwhelming and make it harder to find relevant content. By automatically clearing the search history, users can start with a clean slate and enjoy a more streamlined search experience.

The introduction of this feature also aligns with Instagram’s commitment to user satisfaction and feedback. Instagram understands that users’ needs and preferences evolve, and they continuously strive to enhance the platform accordingly. By offering the option to customize the duration of search history, Instagram demonstrates its dedication to providing a personalized and tailored experience for its users.

To access the new feature, users can navigate to the settings menu on their Instagram profile. From there, they can find the “Search History” option and select their desired duration for automatic clearing. The process is straightforward and user-friendly, ensuring that everyone can easily take advantage of this new update.

In conclusion, Instagram’s new feature gives users greater control over their privacy and allows them to enjoy a more organized search experience. By customizing the duration to 3, 7, 14 days, or sticking with the default 30-day option, users can ensure their search history aligns with their preferences. With this update, Instagram once again proves its commitment to user satisfaction and maintaining a secure and enjoyable environment for all.

H/T: @howfxr / Twitter

Read next: How Do Americans Perceive The Risk Associated With AI? This New Online Poll Has The Answer
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

The Latest Version of ChatGPT Might Think and Reason Like a Real Human Being

AI has become fairly advanced as of late, but in spite of the fact that this is the case, it still hasn’t reached the status of AGI, or Artifical General Intelligence. This refers to when AI can process and think things through similarly to how human beings would with their natural intelligence levels. The initial version of ChatGPT that took the world by storm was a far cry from general AI, but it seems like ChatGPT 4 might be way closer to the real thing.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that researchers at Microsoft recently revealed just how advanced ChatGPT has become. In this 155 page paper, the researchers mentioned that ChatGPT is no capable of analyzing clues in a way that seems to allude to AGI, although more research will need to be done before anything conclusive can be proven.

When asked a few logical puzzles, ChatGPT was able to break them down in a way that suggested actual reasoning rather than just simple pattern recognition which is a hallmark of Large Language Models. Microsoft is not trying to claim that AGI is finally here, nor are they saying that ChatGPT is a true consciousness.

Rather, the latest version of the Large Language Model is a step closer to AGI, and the vague definition of the term allows them to make such claims more easily than might have been the case otherwise. Until such a time comes when the term receives a more precise definition, there will be continuous debate on whether or not AGI is here.

However, many companies are wary of making claims that are this bold. Google recently fired one of their engineers that stated that AI was reaching sentience, and despite a lot of theories online, there is no evidence to suggest that the chatbots that people are interacting with have real emotions or desires. It might take decades before we see AGI, but the rapid recent advancements might help things come to fruition sooner rather than later.

Read next: OpenAI CEO Voices Support For More AI Regulation At Historic Congress Hearing
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Cybercrime Against Children Is On The Rise As New Study Shows Alarming Statistics

The digital world of today is proving to be difficult to deal with, thanks to the growing rates of cybercrime. There is plenty of shady activities arising including the likes of phishing and cyberbullying.

However, it’s not just adults that are being affected but young children too. And the fact that so many younger audiences are at risk of these dangers means a lot of things need to be done.

Thanks to Surfshark, here’s a chart featuring all types of cybercrime activities that have affected kids between the period of 2015 to 2022. And it just highlights how so many victims were led in on the trip and how it affected their financial losses big time.

Here are some key insights on how such illegal activity again kids has arisen in the past and how they’re wreaking havoc now as well.

In the year 2022, we saw a rise in the rate of cybercrime against kids. And as per data from the FBI during the period of 2015 to 2022, there was almost a 20% rise in children victims of such crimes last year in 2021. And to better put such stats into perspective, nearly seven kids each day had to face such exploitation in the year 2022.

This decade brought forward 8000 children who have been cybercrime victims. This means a staggering 50% of kids fell into cybercrime since the start of 2015 and they were targeted in the past few years.

As far as financial losses are concerned, they saw a bigger YoY rise than the figure for victims. And those rose by more than double. Per victim, the average losses coupled up to $92 in the year 2021. And this figure grew further to $223 in 2022. Moreover, last year also showcased the biggest loss per victim than what arose in the past decade so as you can imagine, it’s a huge deal.

As a whole, during the years 2015-2022, a staggering 14.5k young victims affected by cybercrime were reported by the FBI. And that gave a round total figure of 2.9 million in terms of financial losses for such crimes.

Such data was taken from the FBI’s Crime Report during the years 2015 to 2022. More data on this matter were combined and processed as per the number of victims and the losses taking place financially.

Read next: Most Parents Are Concerned About The Negative Impact Of Social Media On Mental Health, New Survey Proves
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Google's Latest Artificial Intelligence Marked a Significant Surge in Textual Data Compared To Its Previous Version

In a recent report, CNBC discovered that Google introduced its latest extended language prototype, which harnesses nearly fivefold the activity data compared to its 2022 version. This significant boost empowers the model to undertake more sophisticated endeavors such as advanced coding, mathematical calculations, and visionary writing assignments.

During the Google I/O event, the organization revealed PaLM 2, their latest big language prototype created for general usage. Interior documentation accessed by CNBC reveals that Pathways Language Model 2 has been oriented on a staggering 3.5 trillion tickets. Tickets, which comprise word strings, play a crucial role in language prototypes as they enable the model to anticipate the subsequent word in a given sequence. In 2022, Google introduced the earlier version of PaLM (Pathways Language Model), which was trained on 770 billion tickets.

While Google has demonstrated enthusiasm in showcasing the capabilities of its AI, seamlessly integrating it into search functions, excel spreadsheets, editing documents, and email messages, the organization has chosen not to divulge specific details about the scale or composition of its data.

Similarly, OpenAI, the business backed by Microsoft and the developer of ChatGPT, has kept the details of its most recent major language model, GPT-4, undercover. Both companies attribute the absence of transparency to the competitive environment within the industry, as they vie for the attention of users who prefer casual chatbot-based information retrieval over conventional search engines. However, as the race for AI advancements intensifies, the research community is increasingly demanding greater clarity in these endeavors.

Following the introduction of Pathways Language Model 2, Google has emphasized that the most delinquent version is of reduced size compared to previous large language models (LLMs). This development carries significance as it denotes the increasing efficiency of Google's technology, enabling it to tackle more intricate tasks successfully. As per internal documentation, PaLM 2 has undergone training with 335 billion parameters, signifying the model's intricacy. Regarding this matter, Google has not yet issued a direct statement for this particular account.

In a blog, discussing Pathways Language Model 2, Google revealed the incorporation of a novel approach known as "compute-optimal scaling." This technique enhances the efficiency and overall performance of the big language prototype, resulting in quicker speculation, reduced parameter calculation, and lower serving expenses.

Google also assured CNBC's last report by affirming that Pathways Language Model 2 is skilled in a hundred different languages and boasts a wide array of capabilities, empowering it to drive 25 components and products. Pathways Language Model 2 is available in 4 various dimensions, ranging from the smallest, Gecko, to the largest, Unicorn, with Otter and Bison in between.

Based on publicly available information, PaLM 2 surpasses all current models in terms of power. For instance, Facebook's LLaMA large language prototype. While the training size for OpenAI's ChatGPT was last disclosed as three hundred billion tickets with GPT-3. OpenAI recently released GPT-4 in March, claiming it demonstrates a "human-level version" across numerous proficient assessments.

As emerging Artificial Intelligence applications rapidly penetrate the mainstream, debates surrounding fundamental technology are evolving more intensely. Controversies surrounding the underlying Artificial Intelligence are gaining momentum in response to its widespread adoption.

In February, El Mahdi El Mhamdi, a prominent senior Google researcher, resigned due to the company's insufficient transparency. During a hearing held by the (SJS) Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on solitude and technology, OpenAI CEO concurred with legislators, highlighting the necessity for a fresh framework to govern AI, acknowledging the significant responsibility borne by businesses like his concerning the tools they introduce to the world.

Read next: Apple Says Its Move To Reject Suspicious Apps Saved It From Scams Worth $2 Billion On The App Store
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Users express discontent as Microsoft begins scanning protected folders for malicious content

According to Ars Technica, Microsoft has started to examine password-secured ZIP folders in order to detect malware and other malicious software. However, not all users are satisfied with this practice. According to Dan Goodin, a number of people who use Mastodon, including experts in cybersecurity, have verified that the latest antivirus software also includes examining Zip files to discover or detect any such potentially harmful material without the user’s consent.

The step was taken as cyber attackers would target such protected files to install malicious software either through spam messages or emails. And since these protected files are not analyzed by the security analysts, the malware would go undetected.

The website claims that while a number of users already knew about this, others had no idea that their protected files were also being searched. Andrew Brandt, a cybersecurity expert, was not happy with the idea. According to him, it was difficult for him to share such malicious files with his colleagues for research purposes, but Microsoft would not allow him to do so. He further explained that sometimes it is important to share such content in order to do their jobs, but since Microsoft keeps making it difficult for him, it affects their work.

Similarly, Kevin Beaumont, another expert in the field, sheds some light on the scanning process employed by Microsoft. He revealed that the company’s scanning mechanism goes beyond SharePoint and scans all the data present on the Microsoft 365 cloud. He added that there are a number of ways to inspect such files. One of the methods includes analyzing the accompanying emails to find the passwords for the protected files, as a number of users would add the passwords for the zip folder along with the attachment in the email.

Users may find it unexpected, but according to ArsTechnica, protected Zip files do not guarantee strong protection and can easily be bypassed. The website suggested alternative programs that could offer strong protection for the archived content.

Read next: Global Data Breach Statistics In Focus: Where Do The Trends Stand In 2023?
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Global Data Breach Statistics In Focus: Where Do The Trends Stand In 2023?

In the world of cybersecurity, it’s not uncommon to talk about data breaches as one of the crucial indexes. And as we progress further into the year 2023, we thought it would be interesting to provide our readers with a glimpse of what has taken place in the past three months or Q1 of 2023, thanks to the data compiled by SurfShark.

This includes a comparison to previous statistics and how well or poorly this year fares against all others.

Moreover, charts featured below are designed to outline and compare the various trends related to the world of data breaches that were witnessed at the start of this year and during the final quarter of 2022. Similarly, it looks at the breaches in data that arose from the perspective of a region, naming top nations through breach counts and discussing those that ended up compromising such email accounts during this year’s start.

When we make comparisons to Q4 of 2022, there were much greater data breaches taking place than that seen this year. It was almost twice as less in Q1 of 2023 than the previous year. The exact figure quoted was 48% less in breached accounts. As a whole, 41 million accounts were leaked in total, and at least one account was leaked per second.

Coming to the statistics as per region, the study looked at which countries underwent significant breaches in Q1 of 2023. In descending order, it was the US, France, India, South Korea, and Japan that made up the top five list.

Moving on, the study looked at the top five nations by breach count in Q1 of 2023. And it was Russia who took the lead, followed up by the US, Taiwan, France, and Spain.

It’s also interesting to note how these top five nations made up 52% of the total number of accounts that were leaked. So if we had to conclude, things are looking very positive in 2023 for these nations as the figure for breaches of accounts increased for all the top five countries, taking a turn for the worst this year.

Furthermore, the research was seen taking into account the regions that it felt were the most vulnerable of the lot. On this front, Europe continues to lead the pack in terms of the total figure for leaked accounts for 2023.

The region witnessed a staggering 17.5 million leaked accounts in the past quarter which happens to be the largest than all other regions. This was followed up by the Asian region which stood at 10.6 million and North America which had 5.3 million.

Europe happened to be the sole region that showed a quarter-over-quarter rise in data breach statistics. It nearly doubled from Q4 of 2022 to Q1 of 2023.

As per the study, some of the biggest data breaches per email arose in sectors like banking, groceries, insurance, payments, and computer technology education. And in March of 2023. It was Russia’s largest bank that suffered the most after a data breach struck Sberbank.

Read next: The Advent of 2023 Marked an Alarming Upsurge in Cyber Assaults on Governments
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Bill Gates regrets spending most of his life focusing on work

Microsoft’s founder, Bill Gates, has recently revealed that he wishes he knew that work is not the only thing in one’s life. While addressing the graduating students of Northern Arizona University, Gates told them that when he was younger, he always kept himself and the people around him busy with work, even during his vacations.

He added that if someone decides to give themselves leniency or a break, it does not make them lazy or unproductive. According to Bill Gates, when Microsoft was just starting, he would keep an eye on his staff. He used to see which workers left early and who was doing overtime by staying in the office. Gates used his office window, which opened into the parking lot, to look at the workers leaving. However, now he knows that maintaining balance is important in life, and people should work on making it happen.

While sharing his advice with the students, Microsoft’s founder told them that they should not wait, just like he waited to understand the importance of a balanced life. He added that students should take time to focus more on their bonds with others. Appreciate the things they have achieved. Not just themselves; if anyone around them wants to give themselves a break, they should be allowed to do so. Four years ago, Gate confessed how strict he was with his workforce; he would send emails even at midnight. But now he has realized that despite working continuously, he has helped them with the company’s success, yet some of it just went over the top.

Gates advised them not to keep themselves restricted to the classroom; instead, they should be ready to learn even from the outside world or the things they have experienced so far. Bill highlighted the importance of friendships and building trust among themselves. He also told them that it is never too late to start again, as some of the students could be worried regarding the things they have planned for their future.

It was not the first time Bill Gate was asked to speak to the students at their graduation. Previously, he delivered his speech at different universities, including Harvard.



Read next: New Research Says Greetings And Sign-Offs Through Emails Can Prove If Your Colleagues Hate You Or Not
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World