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The digital age has changed how financial services operate, pushing the industry to stay tech-savvy just to keep up. Yet, this tech-driven shift isn’t without its issues. Old legacy systems, tight regulations, and the demand for real-time data handling have put pressure on conventional solutions, making them feel outdated. But all-photonic networks, which connect endpoints directly with optical paths, could be the answer, helping the financial world stay fast, flexible, and sustainable.

The challenges financial services face today

Technology is woven deeply into financial services, but that also adds complexity. One major obstacle is performance and latency issues. High-frequency trading, cross-border payments, and fraud detection all require real-time data processing, yet existing electronic networks, built on copper wires and fiber optics, struggle with delays, making it challenging to meet the accuracy needed for time-sensitive transactions. Another challenge is meeting regulatory demands. Compliance with regulations like Europe’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is both tricky and costly. The laws in financial services demand strong data protection and operational stability, but current networks can sometimes fall short. Finally, sustainability pressures are becoming increasingly prominent. As sustainability becomes a core business goal, energy consumption from data centers and network infrastructures has emerged as a major concern, often clashing with firms’ eco-friendly ambitions.

So, what are photonic networks?

Simply put, photonics is about using light - specifically photons - to transmit data. Unlike electrical signals in copper cables or even regular fiber optics, photonic networks use light to send data directly, skipping the usual electronic conversions. The result? Faster speeds, more data capacity, and far less energy consumption.

All-photonic networks send data as light without converting it back and forth between electrical signals. This setup reduces delays and improves energy efficiency, making photonics perfect for industries where fast, reliable data transfer is critical - like financial services.

How photonic networks could transform finance

Photonic networks enable more predictable network pathways, ensuring consistently low latency. That’s a huge plus for financial firms that need every edge to stay competitive in their markets.

Staying compliant with rules like DORA isn’t easy; it requires institutions to be highly resilient and flexible. Photonic networks can help meet these demands by enabling real-time data oversight and faster data replication. This means better disaster recovery capabilities and more robust backup strategies.

These networks also support interconnected data centers with low-latency failover options, ensuring that operations can shift seamlessly during maintenance or outages. This flexibility makes it easier for financial institutions to meet recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) set by regulators.

Photonics and the path to sustainability

Data centers and networks consume vast amounts of power, which is a roadblock for companies aiming to reduce their environmental impact. Photonic networks offer a solution, using light for data transmission and avoiding the energy-hungry electronic conversion steps.

Adopting photonic systems helps firms cut down on energy costs by requiring less power for data transfer, ultimately lowering operational expenses. Additionally, by enabling more reliable data transfer, photonic networks would allow financial service institutions (FSIs) to relocate their data centers to rural areas, where sources of renewable energy are more accessible. This would help these organizations to align more closely with their ESG goals without having any negative impact on the speed of operations.

In an industry where meeting sustainability targets is linked to investor trust and public approval, this is no small thing.

Looking ahead

While photonic technology is still finding its footing, its potential to reshape finance is clear. Embracing photonic networks can help financial firms address today’s issues while unlocking opportunities for innovation down the road. With better support for distributed computing, real-time analytics, and stronger data protection, FSIs can become more resilient, meet tough compliance standards, and hit sustainability goals - all while keeping costs under control.

The financial firms that choose to invest in photonic networks now will likely lead the pack in a rapidly changing market. With unmatched speed, reliability, and energy efficiency, photonics isn’t just a solution to today’s problems; it’s a way to future-proof operations for whatever comes next.

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• President Biden introduces new governmental cybersecurity requirements
• Third-party software providers must demonstrate adherence to new requirements
• The federal government must use end-to-end encryption by default

In one of his last acts as President of the United States, Joe Biden has signed an executive order aimed at strengthening US national cybersecurity.

The order lays out a series of checks and reviews on third-party software providers for both government systems and critical infrastructure in order to ensure they are adhering to established cybersecurity standards and making active efforts to eradicate existing vulnerabilities.

The executive order posits the People’s Republic of China is the main threat to vulnerable networks, likely referencing numerous attacks against US critical infrastructure in early 2024 by the Chinese state-sponsored Volt Typhoon group, and subsequent attacks against US telecommunications networks by the group.

New security standards

“I am ordering additional actions to improve our Nation’s cybersecurity, focusing on defending our digital infrastructure, securing the services and capabilities most vital to the digital domain, and building our capability to address key threats,” President Biden's order said.

It also builds upon previous requirements laid out in the Executive Order on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity from 2021, and implements greater security checks on third-party providers to ensure “software providers that support critical Government services are following the practices to which they attest.”

Third-party providers will therefore have to provide frequent demonstrations that their software and supply chains are secure, with the contracting agency being notified of those failing to meet security requirements.

The federal government is also mandated to adopt identity management software, phishing-resistant authentication, and end-to-end encrypted communications by default across DNS protocols, email, voice and video conferencing, and instant messaging.

Biden also looks to address the future threat of cryptanalytically relevant quantum computers (CRQC) which, when viable, will be able to break many of the encryption algorithms in use today. US agencies will be required to adopt quantum-safe encryption methods authorised by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

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• New Leaseweb products appeal to tinkerers who want total control at an affordable price
• VPS 1 gets 4 vCPU, 6GB vRAM and 100GB NVMe SSD storage with 30TB bandwidth and 10Gbps uplink
• Leaseweb says the VPS are also equipped with 'latest' generation CPUs

Leaseweb has announced the launch of a new virtual private server (VPS) hosting service aimed at improving flexibility and scalability for customers.

The infrastructure as a service (IaaS) specialist said the new VPS solution is specifically designed for businesses that require a “combination of exceptional price-performance, fast local storage, and easy deployment”.

The service will be delivered via a self-service portal, making it a click and go solution requiring “limited technical expertise” for setup and management, which the company says makes the solution ideal for firms seeking an entry-level service to the firm’s public cloud offerings.

What to expect from Leaseweb’s new VPS service

“Our new VPS solution has been designed from the ground up to offer the ideal balance of performance, usability and cost,” said Mathijs Heikamp, Director Product Management at Leaseweb Global.

“By combining the latest hardware, advanced automation and an intuitive self-service portal, we're delivering a cloud infrastructure solution that can effortlessly adapt to customer requirements.”

The VPS service also provides users with built-in security and reliability features, according to Leaseweb. This includes firewalls, DDoS protection, and hosting via ISO-certified data centers.

A backup solution is also available, but as an add-on service.

The new Leaseweb VPS service includes six distinct packages for customers ranging in size and technical expertise.

The entry-level package, dubbed VPS 1, starts at $3.74 (£3.06) per month. This provides users with 4 vCPUs, 6GB of vRAM, and 100Gb of NVMe SSD storage, complete with 30TB of bandwidth and 10Gbps uplink.

Meanwhile, VPS 3 gives users double the vCPU capacity alongside 24GB of vRAM and 300GB of NVMe storage.

At the higher end of the spectrum, the VPS 6 package certainly kicks things up a notch, offering users 24 vCPUs, 120GB of vRAM, and 600GB of NVMe SSD storage capacity.

There’s quite a price jump between the mid-range and upper-tier packages, with VPS 6 setting users back $55.34 (£45.24).

All packages across the range guarantee 30TB of bandwidth and 10Gbps uplink, according to Leaseweb.

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• Trailers have been released for upcoming horror movies The Monkey and Until Dawn
• The trailers were released on February 21 and April 25, respectively
• People are especially divided on Until Dawn's premise

We were spoiled when it came to horror last year, and I'm hoping 2025 gets off to a strong start now we've got trailers for two exciting new movies. Whenever I reflect on TechRadar contributor Gem Seddon's best horror movies of 2024, I wonder how we're going to top that. Considering we had huge hits like The Substance and, my personal favorite, I Saw the TV Glow, I feel like it's going to take a lot to top that this year. I have already put together my most anticipated horror movies of 2025, and it looks like I'll be adding The Monkey and Until Dawn to the list.

Oz Perkins freaked everyone out with his horror-crime hit Longlegs last year, and hopefully, The Monkey will do just as well for him. Meanwhile, the PlayStation horror game sensation Until Dawn is getting the big screen treatment with a very important twist.

Here's what you need to know.

The Monkey

Longlegs was everywhere last year, and even if you weren't brave enough to watch Nicolas Cage as the titular serial killer, you've no doubt heard plenty about it. Choosing not to rest on his laurels, director Oz Perkins is back with another offering in the form of The Monkey. It's got my attention already since Saw and The Conjuring director James Wan is also involved as a producer.

The Monkey has a brilliant cast including Elijah Wood and Tatiana Maslany, with Theo James in a dual role as twin brothers who find their father's vintage toy monkey in the attic which, unfortunately for them, is cursed. We've had loads of creepy dolls like Chucky, Annabelle, and M3GAN on the big screen so I'm keen to see if this scary-looking monkey can reach similar heights. There's not long to wait either as the movie arrives on February 21.

Until Dawn

This one is definitely going to divide people. Until Dawn is one of the best horror games out there, so it's natural people are going to feel apprehensive about the movie adaptation. Recently, it was confirmed that Until Dawn would follow a different story to the game and I personally think that's a smart decision. Setting the movie in the universe but surprising us with a narrative that differs from the game means it's new and exciting, although others aren't convinced!

In what is shaping up to be the most talked about horror adaptation right now, this one is heading to cinemas on April 25, so there's a little wait. But if you want some scares this spring, it might be worth giving Until Dawn a chance.

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• Security researchers find multiple vulnerabilities in different tunneling protocols
• The bugs allowed threat actors to mount DoS attacks, and more
• The majority of vulnerable endpoints were in China

Millions of VPN servers, home routers, and other internet hosts could be carrying multiple vulnerabilities which could allow threat actors to perform anonymous attacks and could grant them access to private networks, experts have warned.

New research from Mathy Vanhoef, a professor at the KU Leuven university in Belgium, PhD student Angelos Beitis, and Top10VPN discovered the vulnerabilities in multiple tunneling protocols: IPIP/IP6IP6, GRE/GRE6, 4in6 and 6in4, and were given these identifiers: CVE-2024-7595, CVE-2025-23018, CVE-2025-23019 and CVE-2024-7596.

VPN tunneling protocols are methods used to securely transmit data between a user's device and a VPN server by encapsulating it within an encrypted tunnel. Common protocols include PPTP, L2TP/IPsec, OpenVPN, and WireGuard, each offering varying levels of speed, security, and compatibility.

Millions of potential victims

The vulnerable ones primarily function to encapsulate one type of IP packet (IPv4 or IPv6) within another for network routing purposes. Unlike VPN-specific protocols, these are generally used for network transport rather than encryption or secure communication.

The research argues the misconfigured systems accept tunneling packets without confirming the identity of the sender, making it, "trivial to inject traffic into the vulnerable protocols’ tunnels."

A malicious actor could send a packet encapsulated using one of the affected protocols with two IP headers, in which the outer header contains the attackers’ source IP with the vulnerable host’s IP as the destination. The inner header’s source IP is that of the vulnerable host IP, while the destination IP is of the target.

So, when the vulnerable host receives the packet, it strips the outer IP header and forwards the inner packet to its destination, paving the way for the creation of a one-way proxy, and abusing the bug to run DoS attacks, DNS spoofing, and more.

The researcher said they scanned the internet for vulnerable hosts and found 4.26 million, including various VPN servers, ISP-provided home routers, core internet routers, mobile network gateways and nodes, and CDN nodes, most of which were located in China.

“All vulnerable hosts can be hijacked to perform anonymous attacks, as the outer packet headers containing an attacker’s real IP address are stripped. These attacks are easily traceable to the compromised host, however, which can then be secured,” the researchers explained.

“Spoofing-capable hosts can have ANY IP address as the source address in the inner packet, so not only does an attacker remain anonymous, but the compromised host also becomes much harder to discover and secure,” they added.

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• Zoom Team Chat is now smarter with AI Companion integration
• The AI upgrades are free of charge for paying customers
• Zoom Chat also has improvements for developers

In its effort to become the go-to “AI-first work platform for human connection” – a term coined by the company in its Zoom 2.0 rebranding in November 2024 – Zoom has introduced a series of new AI tools to its Team Chats.

The redesigned Team Chat sidebar includes new organization functions like drag-and-drop tab arrangement, advanced sorting and filtering.

Key to the updated Team Chat sidebar are the new AI Companion enhancements, which include conversation summarization in select chats and channels, action item identification and information retrieval through an improve search feature.

Zoom overhauls its Team Chat sidebar with AI

“With Zoom Team Chat, you can do cross-product work and be more productive with Zoom Workplace’s AI-first products like Zoom Docs, Zoom Meetings, and Zoom Whiteboard," Zoom CPO Smita Hashim commented.

In a bid to cater to its developer users, Zoom has also added code block and in-line code support to help users format and share code from within the application.

“Our new Team Chat sidebar design takes this to the next level by empowering users to collaborate smarter and customize their workspace to fit their preferred workflow," added Hashim.

"With AI Companion… users can triage and track their messages more easily, saving time and allowing them to focus on what matters most.”

The redesigned sidebar and AI Companion are available to paying Zoom Workplace subscribers for no additional charge.

The new changes are part of CEO Eric Yuan’s plan to make Zoom 2.0 a “fully customizable digital twin” that can save employees an entire working day each week in unproductive time.

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On its last weekday in power, the Biden Administration has chosen the next batch of drugs up for price negotiation in Medicare. 

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