Technologies

Tech Companies Need to Be Held Accountable for Security, Experts Say

All that tech may look cool, but it also needs to be secure.

It’s easy to get caught up in the flashy and futuristic tech rolled out at CES. Where else are you going to see flying cars, toilet sensors that test your pee and so, so many robots?

That all may seem incredibly cool, but that new tech, which is often collecting oodles of personal data from untold numbers of consumers, highlights the need for tech companies to make security and privacy a priority and build it in from the get-go.

Often, when it comes to tech design, data protection concerns are pushed to the back burner in favor of exciting new features, keeping costs low, and getting the tech to market as fast as possible, Jen Easterly, director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said during a CES panel.

That’s partially due to a lack of accountability from both the government and the public in general.

«We don’t seem to be recognizing that as a fundamental safety issue,» Easterly said, adding that while companies have lots of incentives to make products cheaply and quickly, there isn’t a lot out there to entice them to make them safe.

That, unfortunately, puts the burden of securing technology on consumers, who are least able to understand cyberthreats and defend themselves against them, Easterly said.

CrowdStrike CEO George Kutz, speaking on the CES panel, said average people shouldn’t have to think about security beyond the most basic of levels.

When consumers buy a piece of tech, such as a home security camera, they should get some kind of guarantee that it’ll be secure and supported with software updates for a certain amount of time, say five years, Kutz said. After that, they might be on their own, but they won’t have to think about it in the meantime.

«Until there’s some level of oversight and regulation and, you know, some sort of sensible practice in how people purchase these things and how they look at security as a differentiator, you’re going to have the same situations occur over and over,» Kurtz said.

Dan Berte, head of internet of things research for Bitdefender, said it wouldn’t be asking a lot for tech companies to secure and support their products for at least a few years.

Berte’s team spent much of the last year dissecting vulnerabilities in several brands of internet-connected cameras. They discovered security problems in several products, which they then reported to the companies, but he said it was a battle to get many of those companies to acknowledge and fix those problems.

«I think responsibility should be required by law — that you provide instant patching and support for three years, especially if a vulnerability is reported,» Berte said in an interview with CNET.

Companies that fail to do this should be fined, and repeat offenders should have their products pulled from the market, he said.

If nothing else, tech companies should be required to be transparent with consumers about what their technology contains in terms of security protections, just like how food makers are required to list ingredients in their products, Eastery said.

That way people will have a better chance at making smart choices about what kinds of tech they bring into their homes. That transparency also could push tech companies to put more emphasis on securing their products by default, she said.

«Technology companies are actually pushing and trying to get there, but from a consumer perspective we really need to be demanding better safety in our products,» Easterly said.

Technologies

With Apple’s Siri AI Overhaul Delayed, Google Might Help It Catch Up

Siri’s long-delayed overhaul could end up powered by Google’s Gemini AI, a move that shows how urgently Apple is trying to close the gap with rivals.

Apple is reportedly weighing up a potentially major change to its digital assistant: powering a revamped Siri with Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence tool.

According to Bloomberg, the companies are in early discussions about a partnership that could reshape Apple’s AI strategy for the iPhone, iPad and Apple’s other products. While no agreement is in place, the talks signal Apple’s growing urgency to keep up in the generative AI race.

Siri, once a pioneer, has lagged behind its voice assistant rivals. Apple had planned to roll out a smarter, AI-driven Siri in 2025 as part of its Apple Intelligence initiative, but executives delayed the launch until spring 2026, admitting the early version wasn’t reliable enough to ship. That setback has left Apple at a disadvantage while Samsung, Microsoft and Amazon push ahead with AI assistants that are more conversational and capable.

Apple has long prided itself on controlling the technologies that make its products distinct, but generative AI has proven harder to master internally. To bridge the gap, Apple has leaned on partners: today’s Siri can already route certain requests to OpenAI’s ChatGPT when its own models fall short, and later this year, Apple Intelligence is set to upgrade that integration with GPT-5. You’ll be able to call on ChatGPT for writing help, image understanding and complex questions directly through Siri, Writing Tools and Visual Intelligence.

That reliance underscores the fact that Apple’s own models aren’t yet competitive at the same scale as its rivals.

Apple is reportedly exploring additional options, including Anthropic’s Claude and, most prominently, Google’s Gemini. A deal with Google wouldn’t just inject advanced capabilities into Siri, it would echo a long-running partnership between the two companies. Google already pays billions annually to remain the default search engine on Safari, and a Gemini deal could extend that relationship into Apple’s core AI experience.

If the talks advance, we may see a very different Siri emerge in the coming years: one less constrained, more conversational and powered by the same AI that underpins Google’s own products.

Apple and Google didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against ChatGPT maker OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Technologies

US Government Makes $8.9B Investment to Take 10% Stake in Intel

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Aug. 23, #804

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Aug. 23, #804.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

The NYT Connections puzzle is often tough, but today’s is next-level tough. The blue category went wild with long, almost archaic vocabulary. See my rant below when I spoil the blue category for you. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Cars get thirsty too.

Green group hint: Place to play.

Blue group hint: Trickery.

Purple group hint: Who thought of that?

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Liquids you put into cars.

Green group: Arena.

Blue group: Skulduggery.

Purple group: Modern inventions.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is liquids you put into cars. The four answers are brake fluid, coolant, fuel and oil.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is arena. The four answers are bowl, coliseum, hippodrome and stadium.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is skulduggery. The four answers are chicanery, deceit, legerdemain and subterfuge.

OK, first, «skulduggery» is one heck of a word, but then … legerdemain? Seriously? The dictionary defines that as «skillful use of one’s hands when performing conjuring tricks.» New one on me.