Zillow Prepares To Launch New Climate Catastrophe Alerts For Americans Through Its Maps

Climate change and global warming are very real and the effects can be seen worldwide today. This is why popular real estate platform Zillow Maps is gearing up to display climate-related catastrophe alerts to all users.

The news comes amid a devastating Hurricane Helene that ravaged Florida recently, leaving millions without power. Moreover, beachfront properties were significantly impacted and were witnessed getting washed into the ocean. This is why Zillow says it’s important to keep homeowners aware of the risks as they build up with time.

Now, Zillow plans to add data related to floods, wildfires, air quality, and more that’s linked to homes across America. Such information will solely depend on the climate risk at stake. For instance, when you look at homes prone to flooding, the page will display the frequency and depth of floods in any area.

In terms of wildfires, it would showcase how many fires took place in recent memory and also the probability of that getting impacted by the fire over the next few years.

The information will be present on the company’s map and will also be color-coded to display the different kinds of disasters so everyone can check the areas where all five risks are present at the same time. Meanwhile, it confirmed how the data would be property-specific. So that means every user can beforehand check out the risks, if any, before adding offers.

The feature will likely be rolled out on the page and iOS app by this year’s end with support for Android devices arriving during the start of 2025.

The company released a statement on this front, adding how climate risks are a huge consideration when citizens invest in property. This is why markets are only deemed healthy when buyers have the right kind of data accessible to them so they can make the right decision.

This tool is also sufficient, considering the timing of extreme weather conditions. From floods and high temperatures to wildfires and more, the tool can assist agents keep their clients informed about any risks. Be it climate change, insurance, or even factors like affordability in the long term.

This is why Zillow has collaborated with First Street to get the right predictions and provide proper risk assessment. As it is, the firm calls itself a great model for determining climate risk and financial modeling.

As per the company, studies proved that 80% of all investors always take climate risks into account before making a property purchase. This entails the growing accounts of wildfires and homeowners’ insurance that might be destroyed by hurricanes.

With this new feature, buyers will remain informed and make the best purchasing decisions without regret as new listings seen in August were mostly at risk for wildfires and flooding. So if you ask us, the company is certainly giving buyers the reassurance they need, ahead of time.

Read next: Prompt Engineering is in Demand for Small Businesses in the USA
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Prompt Engineering is in Demand for Small Businesses in the USA

As technology is evolving, new skills are needed in job marketing everyday. Prompt engineering is also one of the skills that is in demand. Prompt engineering is a skill in which you have to create prompts differently to give to AI systems so that it can help with your business. According to a survey, 27% small businesses said that prompt engineering is important as compared to 54% medium or large sized businesses.

53% of small businesses said that prompt engineering will become an important skill but 25% believe that it will become less important as AI evolves. Larger businesses are also 2.4 times more likely to use prompt engineering daily as compared to small businesses. One in 4 business owners (26%) also said that they have never used prompt engineering.

For the small business owners that have used prompt engineering, the survey by Adobe asked them about its advantages for small businesses. 46% said that prompt engineering increases their efficiency, 35% said that it enhances the quality of AI output and 33% said that it reduces the need for manual intervention. Providing a competitive edge with the use of AI technology in the right way (23%) and facilitating personalized customer experiences (19%) were also among the advantages of prompt engineering.

There were also some challenges of prompt engineering that some small businesses faced. 44% said that it requires continuous learning and updating of skills, 33% said that they are uncertain about its long term use and 24% said that it's time consuming and costly. Struggling to integrate with existing systems (23%) and finding skilled prompt engineers (22%) were also some prompt engineering challenges faced by small businesses.

Many of the small businesses are looking for hiring talented prompt engineers with 38% considering giving prompt engineering training to their current employees. 48% of small businesses have learned prompt engineering on their own. The top states looking for prompt engineers in the USA are California led by San Jose ($170,396) and San Francisco ($150,814). California is followed by New York and Washington. Las Vegas and Jacksonville are the cities with least pay for prompt engineers.

Read next: Study Shows Many Advanced AI Chatbots Would Rather Give Wrong Answers than Admit They Do Not Know the Answer
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

2024 Router Security: Only 28% Change WiFi Passwords, Down From 35% in 2022

Broadband Genie conducted their third router survey to find out if people are now aware of how they are compromising their security by not changing their router’s default settings. In the previously done surveys in 2018 and 2022, many of the people were not aware of their network security. 3045 respondents were surveyed and it was found that 52% of the users have now adjusted their router’s factory settings. The survey done in 2018 found out that 18% of the users have changed their router administrator password but it has decreased to 14% in 2024. When you leave your password at default, more people can easily access it and snoop around your data. It was also found that 72% of respondents have never changed their Wifi password. Just 28% of the users have changed their Wifi password in 2024, while 35% did so in 2022.

9 in 10 respondents (89%) also reported never changing their router firmware. This is a decrease from 2018 and 2022. If users do not update their router firmware, it can become vulnerable to nefarious actors. The challenge many people face is that the instructions to update the router firmware are mostly unclear and complicated. But once you update it, it can decrease the risks associated with leaving the router unupdated.

Even though changing the name of the network may seem a useless move, it can still serve as a security precaution. But it seems like 89% of people haven't changed their network’s name. Hackers can easily identify the router if it doesn't have a unique name. The survey also found that 75% aren't aware or haven't checked if other people are using their network. It is important to know so users can see if there is someone who is using their network without their consent.

75% of the respondents also aren't sure why they should adjust their router's settings. 18% don't know how to change the settings which is a decrease from 20% in 2022. This means that 72% respondents know how they can change their router settings to increase their security level. If you want to prevent yourself from cyber attacks, make sure to change your Wifi passwords and network names. Update your router and keep check of who's using your network.

Read next: 45% of Workers Face Data Breaches, AI Blamed for Rising Cyber Threats (infographic)
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

45% of Workers Face Data Breaches, AI Blamed for Rising Cyber Threats (infographic)

A new poll of 20K adults from all around the world conducted by Yubico found that most of the employed people have been victims of cyber attacks. According to the results of the poll, 45% of the respondents said that their personal data like email and banking information has been compromised by hacking or scamming attempts. 72% believe that scamming and phishing attempts have become more seamless and smooth, with 66% saying it is because of artificial intelligence.

The survey also found out that 50% of the respondents have been exposed to a scamming attack in the last year at their work but only 23% said that their company took measures for cyber security training for their employees. 20% reported that their personal accounts got hacked in a cyber attack attempt, which included their banking as well as email accounts.

As a result of those cyber attacks, 22% lost their money and 30% said that they don't think their personal accounts can ever be safe after that. A lot of respondents also got their personal passwords hacked or exposed (50%). 44% got their social media passwords hacked or exposed.

The reason why a lot of hacking attempts are successful is because many people believe that putting a username and password on your account can make it safe (39%). People tend to reuse these passwords which make them vulnerable to cyber attacks. 20% of the respondents reported that their company doesn't update technology frequently and only does it when it's needed. 70% say that they take extreme measures to protect information at work as compared to 63% who protect their personal information more. This is the reason why 24% of respondents always worry about someone hacking their personal account and information.

Read next:

• Digital Peek-a-Boo: New Study Says 80% of Parents Track Their Kids’ Locations And The Majority Do It Without Them Knowing

• Study Shows Many Advanced AI Chatbots Would Rather Give Wrong Answers than Admit They Do Not Know the Answer

• Popular Education Apps Are Asking for Dangerous Permissions — Here’s What You Need to Know
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Popular Education Apps Are Asking for Dangerous Permissions — Here’s What You Need to Know

Cybernews examined 25 popular learning and education apps with millions of downloads on Google Play and found out that most of these apps can spy on users. There are many learning apps like Udemy, Coursera, Moodle and Duolingo that a lot of people use but these apps can access your private data too. Whenever users are using these apps, they should be cautious about giving app extra unnecessary permissions.

Most of the popular education apps ask for permissions like write and read external storage, access camera, record audio and getting accounts. The app that asks for the most sensitive permissions is the Remind app which provides communication services for schools. This app asks for a total of 12 sensitive permissions.

Another dangerous app for user privacy is Coursera which asks for 11 sensitive permissions. Questions.AI (an AI homework app) and Moodle (course and class management systems) asks for 10 sensitive permissions. ClassDojo, Gauth_AI, Simplilearn, Canvas Student, Duolingo, Udemy and Blackboard Learn all ask for more than five sensitive permissions.

Most educational apps ask for access to a camera. It is important because of the times the user needs to make in-app pictures and submit them. But this could lead to malicious actors accessing the user's camera without his permission. A total of 17 apps that were analyzed ask for access to the camera.

Coursera and Duolingo apps also ask for access to your accounts. This isn't necessary for educational apps and this means that if you give those apps that permission, they can access all of your accounts that are registered on your device. Account information has a lot of sensitive data that can identify a user's online identity. Duolingo also asks for permission to access contacts of the users. Contact information is also sensitive because it can contain private data about all of your contact and this can be used for unwanted data scraping.

• Also read: Could Hackers Be Spying on Your Phone Right Now? The Shocking Truth About SS7!

A lot of apps also read files and storage of users. They can access your files, photos, videos and documents that can contain your private information. 21 apps that were analyzed can write to your storage while 20 can read your files. PictureThis, a plan identifying app, can also access the location of where the picture was taken. Khan Academy, Questions.AI and Remind App can also request for your phone number and IMEI and if given permission, these apps can identify the device and its user. There were also ten apps that needed your microphone permission. It may be needed for the learning process like for learning language in Duolingo, but if it's exploited, it can access your sensitive and private information.

Remind app can also call and connect to Bluetooth on the user's behalf. It can also lead to privacy breaches and fraudulent scam communication. Moodle and Questions.AI can access your exact location while ClassDojo, Moodle, Questions.AI and Sololearn can access your approximate location.

To keep your data and private information safe, it is best that you review your permission requests before giving access to these apps. Only give permission only when it is necessary and give it only while using the app. If you do not handle this well, it can lead to privacy invasion and data leaks which can become a threat to you.

Read next: Study Highlights Role of Social Media and Governments in Worsening Online Information Landscape
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Digital Peek-a-Boo: New Study Says 80% of Parents Track Their Kids’ Locations And The Majority Do It Without Them Knowing

Parenting is never easy and when we think about the modern tech world of today, things keep getting more advanced.

Keeping a check on who your child is talking to and what activities they’re engaged in online and offline is quintessential. Thanks to the constantly evolving tech landscape and kids getting more tech-savvy, it’s hard for parents to keep tabs on everything.

A new survey by All About Cookies shed light on how many parents spy on their kids. And the results are quite interesting. Therefore, we’ve broken down the key findings for you below so let’s take a look!

80% of all parents are sure to track their kids’ location and a whopping 54% do it very frequently. Meanwhile, 1 in 3 do it without letting kids know about what’s going on behind the scenes.

Similarly, the results showed that 54% of all parents were busy monitoring their child’s text messages and 76% had access to their devices’ passwords. The majority of parents also spoke about catching kids engaged in activities that were not appropriate and that’s all thanks to tracking.

Also, 76% of parents state how tracking kids both on the web and offline has forced them into making better decisions. But the question remains, how exactly are parents playing digital peek-a-boo?

The survey asked parents what and how exactly they monitor their children online. Based on the survey of 1000 adults, most of them resorted to texts and messaging platforms to get a better idea of what the child was doing and with whom. Next came social media profiles, while another leading factor was keeping tabs on screen time.

Financial accounts and browsing history were next while emails and gaming history were another way to monitor their children online. Hence, we can conclude that most parents do feel tracking is necessary. They similarly felt that telling kids that they were doing it was not at all necessary and could come back to bite them as kids are smart and therefore would be mindful.

The study also showed that another key way to track kids is knowing what passwords they keep. More than 50% spoke about knowing passwords to all social media apps while 68% admitted to knowing email passwords. 76% spoke about knowing how kids’ cell phones can be unlocked.

Take a look at the charts below for more insights:

Read next: Meta Fined $101M For Storing Millions of User Passwords In Plaintext And Sharing With Employees
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

OpenAI On The Verge Of Raising Prices For ChatGPT Subscriptions By This Year’s End

OpenAI is looking to make ChatGPT more costly to users in the next few years.

A new report published by the New York Times shed light on some internal documents and how reports spoke about the company having plans to raise the pricing of individual subscriptions for the popular AI chatbot.

Right now, it stands at $20 per month but by the end of this year, it could go up to $22. It might not sound a lot right now but this is just the start. Prices are expected to further increase in the next couple of years. By 2029, the tech giant expects to charge a whopping $44 every month for its ChatGPT Plus.

This is certainly an aggressive move and goes to show the great pressure it has from investors to better profit margins and minimize loss. The news comes even though the firm’s monthly revenue rose to $300 million last month as reported by the NYT.

Still, the AI giant does anticipate more losses that could go up to $5B in 2024. Meanwhile, expenses such as office rent and staffing as well as AI training are said to be the main culprits.

There was a point in time when the firm’s AI tool cost it close to $700k a day. This means OpenAI might face a major blow if prices rise too fast. While the chatbot already has nearly 10M paying users each day, the survey from users hinted at how people feel the price is already too high. Therefore, the thought of a further increase might really rub a lot of users the wrong way. What do you think?

Read next: Study Highlights Role of Social Media and Governments in Worsening Online Information Landscape
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World