Latest Appearances

Press Release Writing in The Age Of AI

Press Release Writing in The Age Of AI

Jun 14, 2023
Learning AI tools is now an essential investment for every business professional, especially for corporate PR and communicators. In this workshop, Maria Korolov explained the basics of press release writing, how to use tools like ChatGPT to help create press releases, and how search engines are now treating AI-generated content.
Guest Speaker: VWEC Expert Series

Guest Speaker: VWEC Expert Series

Aug 26, 2022
Maria Korolov gave a talk at the Virtual Worlds Education Consortium Eduverse Spotlight on Friday, August 26, 2022, speaking about the future of education in the metaverse.
Profile: Sam Whitmore Media Survey

Profile: Sam Whitmore Media Survey

Jul 27, 2022
Maria Korolov was profiled on the Sam Whitmore Media Survey.
SANS Attack Surface Management Solutions Forum 2022: Building Resilience in the Face of Cyber Conflict

SANS Attack Surface Management Solutions Forum 2022: Building Resilience in the Face of Cyber Conflict

Apr 29, 2022
Maria Korolov moderated a panel about what steps organizations can be taking to harden their attack surfaces and enhance their cyber resiliency. 
Guest Speaker: VWBPE 2022 Conference

Guest Speaker: VWBPE 2022 Conference

Apr 1, 2022
Maria Korolov spoke about the state of virtual environments at the 16th annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference.
Metaverse presentations: OpenSimulator Community Conference

Metaverse presentations: OpenSimulator Community Conference

Dec 15, 2021
Maria Korolov was one of the organizers of the ninth annual OpenSimulator Community Conference this December, held virtually. She gave a talk about the metaverse, about the current state of the OpenSim ecosystem, and moderated a panel about creativity in OpenSim.
Informa Webinar: Doing More IT With Less

Informa Webinar: Doing More IT With Less

Oct 27, 2021
Maria Korolov was a panelist at “Doing More IT With Less: Economizing and Innovating in Today’s Enterprise IT Organization,” an Informa virtual event on Wednesday, Oct. 27 sponsored by DarkReading, InformationWeek, Data Center Knowledge, ITProToday, NetworkComputing, and other Informa publications. She spoke on the topic “The practicalities of implementing SASE.”
MetaStellar: Setting up a WordPress website with DreamHost in 15 minutes

MetaStellar: Setting up a WordPress website with DreamHost in 15 minutes

Oct 7, 2021
In a segment for MetaStellar’s YouTube channel, Maria Korolov does a quick overview of using DreamHost to set up a brand new WordPress website.
IDG Zero Trust Webinar

IDG Zero Trust Webinar

Sep 21, 2021
Maria Korolov was a guest on IDG’s zero trust webinar, “VPN vs SSO vs ZTNA — Designing Access for an Anytime, Anywhere World.”
MetaStellar Interview: How we launched in a pandemic

MetaStellar Interview: How we launched in a pandemic

Aug 5, 2021
Maria Korolov talks with the co-hosts of Long-Lost Friends, a show on the MetaStellar YouTube channel, about how MetaStellar was launched.

About Maria Korolov

Maria Korolov is an award-winning tech journalist who covers cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and extended reality.

She’s also a science fiction author and the editor and founder of MetaStellar, an online magazine of speculative fiction, and of Hypergrid Business, one of the world’s top virtual reality blogs.

Contact her at maria@korolov.com to pitch articles or to hire her as writer, editor, or speaker at your event.

Latest AI articles

3 areas where gen AI improves productivity — until its limits are exceeded

3 areas where gen AI improves productivity — until its limits are exceeded

Mar 13, 2024

Even though generative AI is a relatively new technology, it’s now difficult to imagine a world without it, given the impact it’s making, and the business value it can create. According to a research report IDC released in November, based on a survey of over 2,100 business leaders and decision makers with responsibility for AI transformation, 71% of companies already using AI are seeing returns on their AI investments within 14 months,…

How GenAI helps entry-level SOC analysts improve their skills

How GenAI helps entry-level SOC analysts improve their skills

Mar 5, 2024
By automating repetitive triage and documentation tasks, generative AI systems allow entry-level security analysts to spend more time on investigations, response, and developing core skills.
For IT leaders, operationalized gen AI is still a moving target

For IT leaders, operationalized gen AI is still a moving target

Feb 28, 2024
The blistering pace of advancement in generative AI leaves companies struggling to effectively implement and measure the technology, while guarding against bias and risk.
AI-powered 6G wireless promises big changes

AI-powered 6G wireless promises big changes

Feb 12, 2024
The next-gen technology is still years away, but 6G wireless could enable futuristic high-bandwidth, low-latency applications.

Latest quantum computing articles

Error-correction breakthroughs bring quantum computing a step closer

Error-correction breakthroughs bring quantum computing a step closer

Feb 21, 2024

Quantum computing is still in its infancy, easily beaten by traditional computers. One of the biggest challenges? The fact that quantum bits — qubits — are much more fragile than the bits in silicon computers, so a lot more redundancy is required. In fact, today’s quantum computers require thousands or even tens of thousands of qubits in order to create one, usable, functional, logical qubit. The solution? Error correction. “Error…

Cybersecurity in a Post-Quantum World

Cybersecurity in a Post-Quantum World

Jun 7, 2023
Experts agree that future quantum computers will break most current encryption when they become sufficiently powerful. The code to do this – Shor’s algorithm – has already been written. It just needs a powerful enough quantum computer to run on. According to the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), a suitable quantum computer will be available by […]
Commercial quantum networks inch closer to primetime

Commercial quantum networks inch closer to primetime

Mar 23, 2023
The potential for attackers to use quantum computers to crack public key cryptography algorithms is driving research and investment in developing quantum-safe networks.
Quantum Computing for the Pharmaceutical Industry

Quantum Computing for the Pharmaceutical Industry

Mar 1, 2023
Pharmaceutical companies are using quantum computers to make drug discovery faster and safer.

Latest Cybersecurity articles

How GenAI helps entry-level SOC analysts improve their skills

How GenAI helps entry-level SOC analysts improve their skills

Mar 5, 2024

Security operations centers (SOCs) are using generative AI systems to automate repetitive triage and documentation tasks, allowing entry-level security analysts to spend more time on investigations, crafting responses, and developing core skills. It may not be a magic bullet, but the technology can be another useful weapon in the analyst’s arsenal, increasing accuracy, providing a knowledge base, and gathering information quickly and efficiently. GenAI writes prompts, explainers so analysts can…

Assessing and quantifying AI risk: A challenge for enterprises

Assessing and quantifying AI risk: A challenge for enterprises

Jan 30, 2024
Risks associated with artificial intelligence have grown with the use of GenAI and companies must first understand their risk to create the best protection plan.
3 ways to fix old, unsafe code that lingers from open-source and legacy programs

3 ways to fix old, unsafe code that lingers from open-source and legacy programs

Nov 29, 2023
Code vulnerability is not only a risk of open-source code, with many legacy systems still in use — whether out of necessity or lack of visibility — the truth is that cybersecurity teams will inevitably need to address the problem.
Data loss prevention vendors tackle gen AI data risks

Data loss prevention vendors tackle gen AI data risks

Oct 31, 2023
Businesses are using DLP tools to help secure generative AI and reduce risks of ChatGPT and similar applications.

Latest Networking articles

AI-powered 6G wireless promises big changes

AI-powered 6G wireless promises big changes

Feb 12, 2024

The next evolution in wireless communication, 6G is expected to arrive in 2030, driven by ever-increasing demands for speed and bandwidth from the explosive growth in connected devices and AI. 6G (sixth-generation cellular) will deliver significant improvements in security, resilience, reliability, latency, connection density, traffic capacity, spectrum efficiency, and user data rates, compared to 5G. It is expected to be 50 times faster than 5G, with a top-end, theoretical speed of 1Tbps, compared…

5 data center predictions: Surging demand and tighter rules squeeze operations

5 data center predictions: Surging demand and tighter rules squeeze operations

Jan 29, 2024
Rising workloads, tougher sustainability regulations, and cost pressures will increasingly squeeze data center operators in 2024 and force tradeoffs between business expansion and infrastructure reliability.
Data centers unprepared for new European energy efficiency regulations

Data centers unprepared for new European energy efficiency regulations

Dec 7, 2023
Regulatory pressure is driving IT teams to invest in more efficient servers and storage and improve their data-center reporting capabilities.
5 ways to boost server efficiency

5 ways to boost server efficiency

Dec 4, 2023
Right-sizing workloads, upgrading to newer servers, and managing power consumption can help enterprises reach their data center sustainability goals.
8 top industries for private 5G

8 top industries for private 5G

Nov 20, 2023
Manufacturing, transportation and logistics lead the way among the top industry verticals for private 5G deployments.
Hot (and not hot) networking skills

Hot (and not hot) networking skills

Oct 10, 2023
Flexibility and willingness to learn are prized over specialization. SASE, SD-WAN and ZTNA skills are in demand.

latest Awards

ASBPE Awards of Excellence: 2024 Regional Silver Award Winner

ASBPE Awards of Excellence: 2024 Regional Silver Award Winner

Maria Korolov’s CSO article, How AI chatbot ChatGPT changes the phishing game, was a regional finalist in the Technology & Innovation Reporting category of the 2024 Azbee Awards of Excellence from the American Society of Business Press Editors.
ASBPE Awards of Excellence: 2020 National Gold Award Winner

ASBPE Awards of Excellence: 2020 National Gold Award Winner

Maria Korolov’s Network World article, Private 5G keeps Whirlpool driverless vehicles rolling, received top national honors from the American Society of Business Press Editors.
ASBPE Awards of Excellence: 2018 Regional Silver Award Winner

ASBPE Awards of Excellence: 2018 Regional Silver Award Winner

Maria Korolov’s CSO article, What is a supply chain attack? Why you should be wary of third-party providers, received silver regional honors from the American Society of Business Press Editors.

latest Appearances

Guest Speaker: VWEC Expert Series

Guest Speaker: VWEC Expert Series

Aug 26, 2022
Maria Korolov gave a talk at the Virtual Worlds Education Consortium Eduverse Spotlight on Friday, August 26, 2022, speaking about the future of education in the metaverse.
Profile: Sam Whitmore Media Survey

Profile: Sam Whitmore Media Survey

Jul 27, 2022
Maria Korolov was profiled on the Sam Whitmore Media Survey.
SANS Attack Surface Management Solutions Forum 2022: Building Resilience in the Face of Cyber Conflict

SANS Attack Surface Management Solutions Forum 2022: Building Resilience in the Face of Cyber Conflict

Apr 29, 2022
Maria Korolov moderated a panel about what steps organizations can be taking to harden their attack surfaces and enhance their cyber resiliency. 
Guest Speaker: VWBPE 2022 Conference

Guest Speaker: VWBPE 2022 Conference

Apr 1, 2022
Maria Korolov spoke about the state of virtual environments at the 16th annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference.
Metaverse presentations: OpenSimulator Community Conference

Metaverse presentations: OpenSimulator Community Conference

Dec 15, 2021
Maria Korolov was one of the organizers of the ninth annual OpenSimulator Community Conference this December, held virtually. She gave a talk about the metaverse, about the current state of the OpenSim ecosystem, and moderated a panel about creativity in OpenSim.
Informa Webinar: Doing More IT With Less

Informa Webinar: Doing More IT With Less

Oct 27, 2021
Maria Korolov was a panelist at “Doing More IT With Less: Economizing and Innovating in Today’s Enterprise IT Organization,” an Informa virtual event on Wednesday, Oct. 27 sponsored by DarkReading, InformationWeek, Data Center Knowledge, ITProToday, NetworkComputing, and other Informa publications. She spoke on the topic “The practicalities of implementing SASE.”
MetaStellar: Setting up a WordPress website with DreamHost in 15 minutes

MetaStellar: Setting up a WordPress website with DreamHost in 15 minutes

Oct 7, 2021
In a segment for MetaStellar’s YouTube channel, Maria Korolov does a quick overview of using DreamHost to set up a brand new WordPress website.
IDG Zero Trust Webinar

IDG Zero Trust Webinar

Sep 21, 2021
Maria Korolov was a guest on IDG’s zero trust webinar, “VPN vs SSO vs ZTNA — Designing Access for an Anytime, Anywhere World.”
MetaStellar Interview: How we launched in a pandemic

MetaStellar Interview: How we launched in a pandemic

Aug 5, 2021
Maria Korolov talks with the co-hosts of Long-Lost Friends, a show on the MetaStellar YouTube channel, about how MetaStellar was launched.
BrightTalk cybersecurity panel

BrightTalk cybersecurity panel

Oct 23, 2020
On Oct. 13, Maria Korolov moderated a BrightTalk panel, “Protecting Critical Infrastructure from Cyberattacks During Global Disruption.”  Watch the webinar on-demand here.
CIO Magazine New Reality Event

CIO Magazine New Reality Event

Sep 15, 2020
On Sep. 15, Maria Korolov was a speaker at a CIO magazine virtual event, “The New Business Process Mandate: AI & Automation.” Watch the on-demand session by clicking here.
Look Left podcast

Look Left podcast

May 12, 2020
On May 12, Maria Korolov was a guest on the Look Left Marketing podcast to talk about her career in journalism.  Listen to the podcast by clicking here.
IDG Tech Talk: CCPA Revisited

IDG Tech Talk: CCPA Revisited

Feb 18, 2020
On Feb. 21, Maria Korolov was a guest on IDG Tech Talk to answer reader and viewer questions about the California Consumer Privacy Act.  Watch the show on YouTube by clicking here.
InformaTech’s Cybersecurity Bootcamp

InformaTech’s Cybersecurity Bootcamp

Oct 23, 2019
On Oct. 23, 2019, Maria Korolov was a guest speaker at InformaTech’s Cybersecurity Bootcamp, talking about securing the virtual data center.  See her presentation for free and download the slides here.
IDG Tech Talk: CCPA

IDG Tech Talk: CCPA

Sep 6, 2019
On Sep. 6, 2019, Maria Korolov was a guest on IDG Tech Talk to talk about how the California Consumer Privacy Act will affect businesses  Watch the show on YouTube by clicking here.

older Awards and Appearances

Judge, 2019 CSO50 awards

Maria is one of the judges of the annual CSO50 awards, which recognize 50 organizations for their security project or initiative that demonstrates outstanding business value and thought leadership.

Judge, Epica Awards

Maria is a member of the jury of the 2018 Epica awards, the only global creative prize judged by journalists.

Jan. 2018: Maria Korolov talks with Sine Wave about “Succeeding As A Retailer In Immersive Worlds.” 

Dec. 2017: Speaker at Stereopsia conference in Brussels, Belgium. Topic was women in virtual reality. Click here for slides.

Dec. 2017: Speaker at OpenSimulator Community Conference. Topic was a statistical overview of OpenSim development. Click here for slides.

Apr. 2017: Profiled in Viar360’s Women of VR – 35 Ladies Who Are Killing It In Virtual Reality

Aug. 2016: Mentioned in Marie Claire’s Virtual Reality Has a Female Mafia—and They’re Looking for New Recruits

BBC Image

May 2016: Interviewed by the BCC about how virtual reality will change our lives. Listen to the broadcast hereRead the transcript here.

Sep. 2015: Mentioned in Fortune’s Meet the women shaping our virtual future.

Latest Blog Posts

Help wanted: Virtual editorial assistant

Aug 4, 2022
Help wanted: Virtual editorial assistant

Virtual assistant illustration created with Midjourney. Read my Midjourney review here. I’m working on a lot of projects these days. As…

AI tools to create cool illustrations

May 17, 2021
AI tools to create cool illustrations

Writing is all about the text. But marketing and promotion is often all about the images. Whether you’re sharing with your audience on Twitter, Facebook,…

15 free mind map tools for writers

May 10, 2021
15 free mind map tools for writers

A few days ago I wrote about how to use the free online app Miro to plot out a story. That’s all well and good…

How to use Miro for story plotting

May 3, 2021
How to use Miro for story plotting

A year ago, when the pandemic first hit, I wrote an article for CIO magazine about how to manage software development teams when you can’t…

The best free* books to help you battle procrastination

Feb 28, 2021
The best free* books to help you battle procrastination

Last month, I posted an article about a bunch of ways writers can use to beat procrastination. But maybe you want to go deeper on…

28 ways to beat procrastination for writers

Jan 7, 2021
28 ways to beat procrastination for writers

Have you ever stared at your screen or typewriter or notebook and couldn’t force yourself to write? You had the time block set aside for…