data retention Archives

Winsage

August 13, 2025

August Patch Tuesday: Authentication hole in Windows Server 2025 now has a fix

A second hole in AI systems has been discovered, raising concerns among cybersecurity experts about command injection vulnerabilities. Multiple AI-related vulnerabilities have emerged, including those linked to GitHub Copilot and Azure OpenAI, prompting organizations to reassess their AI strategies. It is important for organizations to understand their AI usage, the specific services they employ, and their responses to vulnerabilities. Discussions often focus on data residency, retention, and ownership, but security measures and policies of AI service providers are also crucial. Chief Security Officers are encouraged to reevaluate risk assessment methods, as vulnerabilities are categorized by severity, leading to questions about the reliability of these ratings. Organizations are urged to establish an internal framework for effective risk measurement.

AppWizard

August 5, 2025

Google Gemini Android App to Add Audio Uploads for AI Insights

Google's Gemini app for Android is set to enhance its functionality by supporting audio file uploads, as indicated by an APK teardown revealing code strings and user interface elements for this feature. This development will allow users to summarize podcasts, transcribe meetings, and extract insights from voice memos. The introduction of audio capabilities follows earlier features like Audio Overviews, which enable podcast-style discussions from written documents. However, there are significant privacy concerns regarding the handling of sensitive audio data, with fears that Google may access personal information without explicit user consent. Critics warn that audio uploads could lead to unauthorized data scraping and complicate compliance with data protection regulations. Google has mentioned configurable privacy settings to address these risks, but skepticism remains about their adequacy. The anticipated rollout of this feature is expected in the coming months.

Tech Optimizer

July 31, 2025

Cloudflare Chooses PostgreSQL Extension Over Specialized OLAP for 100K Row/Second Analytics

Cloudflare's team chose TimescaleDB over ClickHouse for its Zero Trust product suite to achieve a balance between managing analytical and configuration data and the performance of an OLAP system. They developed Digital Experience Monitoring (DEX), an observability platform that collects structured logs from WARP clients and presents them through a dashboard. Initially using ClickHouse since 2017, they faced limitations with its MergeTree engine, which struggled with numerous small writes from millions of devices. To expedite DEX's release, they used PostgreSQL, managing 200 inserts per second at launch, which scaled to 1,000 inserts/sec as usage grew, leading to performance degradation. They improved query performance by precomputing aggregates, achieving a 1000x improvement. Transitioning to TimescaleDB allowed for better management of time-stamped data with automated aggregation and data retention. Benchmarking showed performance enhancements of 5x to 35x compared to traditional PostgreSQL tables. Following DEX's success, TimescaleDB has been adopted for other Cloudflare initiatives, including Zero Trust Analytics & Reporting.

AppWizard

July 14, 2025

How to disable Gemini AI on Android and keep control of your apps

Google is integrating its AI, Gemini, with Android systems, allowing access to applications like WhatsApp, Messages, and Phone, starting July 7, 2025. This integration may override existing privacy settings unless users disable Gemini. Users can restrict Gemini's access to apps through the Google Gemini app settings or uninstall it. If Gemini is not pre-installed, it will not be automatically installed on devices. Disabling Gemini maintains previous privacy settings, but conversations may still be reviewed by human reviewers for AI training, with data retention lasting up to three years. Users are advised to avoid sharing sensitive information in Gemini chats.