The IT Week — 543,000 passwords and access keys still valid in code published online, Italy recycles less than a third of its e-waste, and Windows 11 learns to preview PDFs

📰 This week's news: 543,000 passwords and access keys still valid, forgotten in code published online

On 30 September researchers at Truffle Security published the results of a huge scan: 224 million public code repositories on GitHub (the site where developers around the world share their work) and more than 58 billion files. Inside they found 543,699 credentials — passwords and keys that open real services such as cloud storage, databases or payment systems — still working perfectly.

What stands out is the time: on average those keys stayed exposed for 784 days — over two years — before anyone noticed, and about 10% of the still-valid ones were more than 6.3 years old; the oldest dates back to 2009. And 199,843 of them (36.8%) were published after February 2024, when GitHub made the protection that blocks these mistakes mandatory: that protection does not cover everything, and for 51.8% of the working credentials the key type is not among those stopped automatically.

What it means for a company that doesn't write code: keys like these are created by whoever builds the website, the management software or the app, and sometimes they end up in the wrong place. The useful question for your supplier is simple: “when a collaborator leaves or a project ends, are the access keys changed?”. A forgotten key stays an open door until someone closes it.

♻️ Refurbished world: Italy collects less than a third of its e-waste, and public bodies must buy refurbished

The picture of electronic waste in Italy, according to figures reported by Il Sole 24 Ore: in 2024 29.6% of it was collected, down from 30.2% in 2023, against a European target of 65%. Italian plants treated 540,854 tonnes (+5.9% on the previous year), and professional waste — the kind produced by companies — grew by 18.4%, while household waste grew by only 1%.

There is, however, a push in the right direction. Under the new Minimum Environmental Criteria for IT, in force since 24 May 2026 (Ministry of the Environment decree of 11 March 2026), whoever buys computers, monitors, tablets and smartphones for public administration — or rents them on an operating lease — must choose refurbished for at least 10% of purchases in each category. It isn't news from this week, but it is the clearest sign that refurbished is no longer a fallback: it is a choice built into the rules.

For a private company the reasoning is the same. When an office PC reaches the end of its life, first check whether it can serve someone else, and only when it is no longer recoverable take it to certified disposal, which first erases the data in a verifiable way and then recovers the materials. That way nothing ends up in a drawer or, worse, in the wrong bin.

🪟 Windows tip: PDF previews in File Explorer and a reassignable Copilot key

On 22 September Microsoft released the optional update KB5124010 for Windows 11, found in Windows Update. Useful additions: in File Explorer's preview pane PDF files now show automatically, without opening them; File Explorer's Home remembers which sections you had expanded or collapsed; and there is a new accessibility option to open all apps already maximized.

If your keyboard has a Copilot key you don't use, you can now assign it another function: Right Ctrl or the context menu (the one opened with the right mouse button). There are also new touchpad gestures, such as single-finger scrolling, and Emoji 17.0 (open them with the Windows key + period).

The practical tip: to use PDF previews, in File Explorer go to View → Show → Preview pane and click a PDF: you see the content without opening it, handy for quickly flicking through invoices and documents. A warning for office PCs: Microsoft also lists some known issues with this update (for example with certain audio programs and some corporate network setups), so if you manage many PCs, try it on one first. See you next week! 🚀