News

• 93% of UK companies have faced a business-critical incident (86% globally)
• They're not testing recovery plans frequently enough, though
• Some are putting together inventories of critical systems

New research has warned UK companies could be at a higher risk of facing dangerous cyber incidents, with 93% having experienced a business-critical incident compared with 86% globally.

The data comes from a Commvault study in the months following the impactful attack on UK retail giant M&S and reveals a recent uptick in incidents, with 57% having occurred in the past 18 months.

However, despite the more at-risk nature of UK companies, 21% are less likely to have dedicated recovery environments than their global counterparts and 11% are less likely to have tested recovery plans in the last month.

Commvault noted, even though British firms are more likely to experience "frequent devastating incidents," they're falling behind when it comes to their recovery readiness, and that's down to three key failures: the complexity of existing systems and applications (52%), the struggle to keep recovery plans in line with their changing needs (47%) and difficulties separating core systems from less business-critical operations (30%).

"Having a tested recovery plan in place and a dedicated recovery environment in the cloud can make all the difference between chaos and continuous business," Commvault EMEA SVP Richard Gadd explained.

However, tables and turning and companies are starting to lay the foundations of change. The report details how two in three (65%) have an inventory of business-critical systems and dependencies, which is higher than the global average (50%).

Looking ahead, companies can strengthen their cybersecurity postures by adopting zero trust and deny-by-default principles to prevent many threats while also deploying continuous monitoring systems.

With UK firms less likely to have conducted a recovery test in the past month, there's clear scope for further testing including both recovery and penetration testing to highlight any weak points before an attack takes place.

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• The August update for Windows 11 and 10 broke recovery features
• That includes options to reset the PC and fix problems using Windows Update
• All of these fail to work after the most recent patch, but thankfully Microsoft has now deployed a fix

Microsoft has rushed out an emergency fix for a problem caused by the most recent Windows 11 update (and Windows 10 patch), which has broken reset and recovery features that are designed to rescue your PC when it runs into serious trouble.

Bleeping Computer spotted Microsoft's announcement of the release of the fix which has been delivered as an 'out of band' update, meaning it's a cumulative update that's been deployed outside the usual timing.

It's the resolution for a bug affecting the reset powers of Windows 11 (versions 23H2 and 22H2) and Windows 10 (22H2), which was introduced with the August updates that arrived for these operating systems last week. The cure is packed in cumulative updates that are the same as those original August patches, except for having the fix bundled in, too.

If you've installed Microsoft's August patch, and you're running one of the affected versions of Windows, you should therefore install this new update on top. It's labelled KB5066189 for Windows 11, and KB5066188 for Windows 10, and you can find it by checking for updates in the Windows Update panel. Note that it'll appear under optional updates.

If you haven't installed the August patch yet, you should simply apply this one instead (from optional updates).

I should make it clear that this affects all versions of Windows 10 and 11 that are in support – except for the very latest take on Windows 11, 24H2. It's rare that those on Windows 11 24H2 aren't hit by a bug – those people have been suffering the most since that newest take on Microsoft's desktop OS came out.

As to the specifics of what the bug in question breaks, it’s the ability to reset the PC, which allows you to revert the system back to its original state – essentially a reinstall of Windows 11 – or reset and keep your personal data (but not apps or settings). A second option to 'Fix problems using Windows Update' is also affected, which is essentially the same as the latter reset option, where you keep your personal files, but this also holds onto apps and settings – so it's just reinstalling the Windows system itself.

Due to the glitch, all these processes will fail, which is obviously going to leave you very much in the lurch when it comes to trying to recover from a problem. You won't be able to get anywhere, although the bug itself won't cause any further detriment to the condition of your PC. The reset or recovery procedure will simply fall over.

These aren't features that you'll need to use often – hopefully – and so the effect of this bug may not have been felt all that widely initially (which is likely why the flaw didn't come to light immediately). Still, it's going to be pretty annoying if you do need a reset or repair for your Windows 11 or 10 PC – as obviously things aren't going well with the operating system if you're resorting to such measures – hence why Microsoft has been quick to push out this fix.

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• The Miniot Wheel 3 has stunning sci-fi looks and genuinely clever design
• Optical stylus, hidden tonearm and integrated preamplifier
• €2,900 / $3,443 / £2,550 / AU$5,351

The new Miniot Wheel 3 is exactly what I expected the music hardware of 2025 to look like when I was growing up in the late 1970s and early 1980s: I knew that in 2025 my enormous, airy and affordable apartment on the moon would be filled with friendly robots, holographic televisions and vertical vinyl. So it's nice to be proved right about one of those things, at least.

As the name suggests, the Miniot Wheel 3 is the third generation of Miniot's vertical vinyl player. And there's some clever tech to match the retro-futuristic design.

This isn't the only vertical turntable around: we've seen various models since the 1980s, and among the current crop you'll find Pro-Ject with its VTE vertical turntable and last year's Fuse Audio Kickstarter, which looked impressive.

But this is a much more premium model, with a price tag to match: it's listed at €2,900 / $3,443 / £2,550 / AU$5,351.

Miniot says that the stylus is optical. It's not a laser – it's a diamond stylus – but instead of using of magnets or coils to convert the vibrations the stylus reads into an audio signal, it uses an optical sensor.

The stylus is teamed with an optical sensor-controlled direct drive motor and an integrated preamplifier. There's a hidden tonearm beneath the record that moves vertically from bottom to center, and the Wheel 3 can be laid flat, hung on a wall or stood on its stand.

Although pre-orders began in May, I haven't been able to find any reviews of the Wheel 3 – but there are some reviews of the previous model on YouTube from the likes of Techmoan, who wasn't particularly enthusiastic or damning: it was an impressive bit of design and unlike anything else on the market, but audiophiles would likely get more mileage from something more traditional and affordable.

But then, you don't buy a record player like this for its sound. You buy it to blend in with the rest of your apartment on the moon.

The Miniot Wheel 3 is available now from miniot.com. US, Australian and UK orders are expected to ship in around 10 weeks.

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