Steve Ranger
Steve Ranger is an award-winning reporter and editor who writes about technology and business. Previously he was the editorial director at ZDNET and the editor of silicon.com.
Latest articles by Steve Ranger
![Software developers sitting at desks in an open plan office space.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/T9PDUmvQUdkxNg5piBoSwc-320-80.jpg)
This new hacker group is targeting software developers with phony job offers and fake projects
By Steve Ranger published
News From targeting software developers to infiltrating IT firms, the Moonstone Sleet hacker group has an unusually wide range of attacks – and isn’t shy about using them
![Rolls of magnetic tape storage pictured in a computer room at Lovanio University, Belgium, in the 1970's](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dstUX32Cdjf6PiXddsyZvL-320-80.jpg)
Magnetic tape storage has found a new lease of life thanks to generative AI
By Steve Ranger published
News Magnetic tape storage is back in vogue thanks to the rise of generative AI and ransomware, according to new research
![Data center worker in a server room working on racks.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/W5Ze8tZ9nHxJ57TTK9nHaj-320-80.jpg)
Data center staff are getting burnt out – and this could be causing more frequent outages
By Steve Ranger published
News Data center staff are placed under significant strain working long hours in a high stakes environment
![Cyber security concept image showing digitized circuit board with a red alert symbol notifying a potential cyber attack](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/rpoRQnzdPTiAjmt2cRdtke-320-80.jpg)
Healthcare cyber attacks have surged in 2024 — this new program aims to improve security
By Steve Ranger published
News With healthcare cyber attacks intensifying over the last year, a new initiative looks to introduce autonomous patching for organizations and reduce cyber risk
![Open source AI concept image showing digitized brain hovering over a circuit board.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/VBqn2J5kcKMXXeboZJS47n-320-80.jpg)
Tech companies promise to halt AI development if the risks are too great
By Steve Ranger published
News Promises on AI safety will only go so far, experts argue, prompting renewed calls for stronger legislation
![Detail of the entrance to the Google UK offices in London, with the Google logo visible above the doorway, taken on June 4, 2019](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Th9cvV9RxxZpczReQfYYpW-320-80.jpg)
Inside Google’s plan to use data center waste heat to warm nearby homes and businesses
By Steve Ranger published
News Google said waste heat will be reused as part of $1 billion investment to support AI growth
![Microsoft logo illuminated on a wall during a Microsoft launch event to introduce the new Microsoft Surface laptop and Windows 10 S operating system, May 2, 2017 in New York City.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qjgzKjAqzrtrwM4P6vruwa-320-80.jpg)
Microsoft's AI-fueled data center rush caused carbon emissions to surge by 29% in 2023
By Steve Ranger published
News Microsoft wants to cut carbon emissions, but a drive to create new data centers is making that a lot harder
![Google logo and branding pictured outside company office on glass frontage.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ZyRDtEHNrbWerYBEqYEKCg-320-80.jpg)
Google shows off new smaller generative AI tools and an AI agent on your phone
By Steve Ranger published
News Google wants to seize momentum from rivals like OpenAI in the generative AI race - and its latest LLM updates could turn the tide
![Ransomware concept image showing skull and cross bones on a computer chip sitting on a circuit board.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mJfYyZvh8k5gkrArFsfHiX-320-80.jpg)
This ransomware variant has now been used against 500 targets — here's what you need to know
By Steve Ranger published
News One form of ransomware has become a ‘significant threat’, US authorities have warned - here’s how to protect yourself
![Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang delivers a keynote address during the Nvidia GTC Artificial Intelligence Conference at SAP Center on March 18, 2024 in San Jose, California.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/iDiwvoUzgPA2AMTsjyE9EQ-320-80.jpg)
Nvidia thinks it’s time to start measuring data center efficiency by other metrics — is this the end of PUE?
By Steve Ranger published
News Nvidia says data center efficiency has moved on so much that new measures are needed to track performance
![Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, which recently announced the GPT-4o model, speaking at the firm's inaugural developer conference in San Francisco in 2023.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/9yUtWWRW2eHtNVA9R7vQ3c-320-80.jpg)
Everything you need to know about GPT-4o, including pricing, features, and how to get access
By Steve Ranger published
Explainer OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said GPT-4o “feels like AI from the movies” - here’s everything you need to know about the new model
![Software security concept image of path traversal vulnerabilities showing binary code with errors.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/gKLTvnANq7qVnyR2s8pvxK-320-80.jpg)
Path traversal vulnerabilities have been ‘unforgivable’ for decades — developers still haven’t got the message
By Steve Ranger published
News 27 years of warnings over path traversal vulnerabilities are apparently still not enough for some people
![Logo and branding of Microsoft, developer of the MAI-1 AI model, pictured at night in New York City.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/9JhrrGwP7dPTU4Y4YNXwAg-320-80.jpg)
Microsoft is building a new AI model to rival some of the biggest
By Steve Ranger published
News Microsoft is working on a MAI-1, a new internally-developed large language model to rival some of the biggest around, despite its deal with OpenAI
![IBM branding and logo pictured on the company pavilion during the Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona, Spain, on February 28, 2024.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GL82HXXNLFym8eperBBB8R-320-80.jpg)
IBM just open sourced these generative AI coding models
By Steve Ranger published
News IBM has open sourced models trained on code written in 116 programming languages - and it could make life a lot easier for enterprise developers
![OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pictured during an interview at Bloomberg House on the opening day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/oAB8SMGDqDHWzjxVxKgfTX-320-80.jpg)
OpenAI’s deal with Stack Overflow just landed it a goldmine of developer data
By Steve Ranger published
News OpenAI's large language models will now be trained using millions of questions drawn from the developer knowledge site
![A digital eye made of CGI fibers, representing encryption.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/F5jbQ94fiAvpvpf9CQoxAB-320-80.jpg)
The encryption stand-off is getting weirder
By Steve Ranger published
Opinion Opinion: Governments have the powers they said they wanted, so why won’t they use them?
![Male software developer using Java 17 while sitting at computer desk.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/AbGJZv2KqK9QxtiU3VHPjB-320-80.jpg)
Why Java 17 growth is ‘exploding’
By Steve Ranger published
News Java 17 is now the most popular LTS version, according to application data from New Relic, but what's driving this growth?
![Amazon Q symbol and branding picture on a smartphone with branding images in background.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/A3vbCkQhb7cx8v5V4UUyHk-320-80.jpg)
Everything you need to know about Amazon Q, including features, pricing, and business tiers
By Steve Ranger published
Explainer Amazon Q can help developers write code faster and help workers with no coding experience build their own generative AI apps
![IBM logo displayed at their pavilion during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on February 28, 2024](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/aiNgm37C8uisAVy9qJkyEg-320-80.jpg)
Everything you need to know about IBM’s HashiCorp acquisition
By Steve Ranger last updated
News IBM’s acquisition of HashiCorp represents a major signal of intent for the tech giant and its hybrid cloud and AI ambitions
![Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) headquarters pictured in Spring, Texas, US, on Monday, May 29, 2023](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/FqKTZNdZ6BtBz5Zzz7aSsR-320-80.jpg)
HPE’s new Aruba Wi-Fi 7 access points aim to supercharge IoT at the edge
By Steve Ranger published
News HPE’s new Wi-Fi access points add more capacity for wireless traffic and the option to process IoT data faster
![Artwork of a cloud connected to several dark cubes by wires, representing cloud backups. Decorative: the cloud is white, the boxes are dark grey and all are set against a red background.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Rp6qyDCz2FBmZkS6ThLF5D-320-80.jpg)
How Leo A Daly embraced cloud backups for scalability and security
By Steve Ranger published
Case study Using cloud backups, Leo A Daly dramatically reduced file recovery times and improved collaboration across its sites
![Microsoft signage pictured in New York City at night with passing traffic and pedestrians.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7ryMU7RKeMv6Lzjkip22bb-320-80.jpg)
Microsoft issues warning over ‘GooseEgg’ tool used in Russian hacking campaigns
By Steve Ranger published
News Microsoft researchers have observed the tool being used to help install backdoors and move across networks
![End-to-end encryption concept image showing a series of locked digitized padlocks on a circuit board.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/8jaVZpQM96Y2PNRsWdgpLd-320-80.jpg)
Euro police chiefs rekindle end-to-end encryption battle amid continued rollouts
By Steve Ranger published
News End-to-end encryption plans are putting users in danger and making it harder to fight crime, police claim, but tech industry stakeholders disagree
Get the ITPro. daily newsletter
Receive our latest news, industry updates, featured resources and more. Sign up today to receive our FREE report on AI cyber crime & security - newly updated for 2024.