Automated phishing boosts profits for hackers
Phishing has proved to be one of the most profitable techniques for hackers. A new report from cyber security company Imperva reveals that the availability of turnkey services is making it even more effective.
Imperva researchers explored the darknet marketplace to estimate the cost of phishing campaigns and to get a clear picture of the hackers' business model. They discovered phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) campaigns were easy to buy and low cost.
Vinyl resurgence sees records overtaking digital sales in the UK
The music industry has come through all sorts of changes over the last few decades, but it was the birth of the MP3 that many warned was the death knell for record shops.
In recent years however, vinyl has made a major comeback, and in the UK digital sales have just been overtaken by sales of the groovy black platters. For purists, enthusiasts, and fans of certain musical genres, vinyl has never gone out of fashion, but in the run-up to Christmas it is proving more popular than ever.
Doyodo RetroEngine Sigma is a Linux-powered classic video game emulation console
The Nintendo NES Classic is quite an amazing console. True, it is not as powerful as modern game systems like Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but it comes pre-loaded with many classic NES titles. Unfortunately, its strength is also its weakness -- those pre-loaded titles are the only games you can play. You cannot load other games, so you are stuck with what you got.
As an alternative, some folks use software emulation and ROMs on their computers to play countless video game titles. Of course, there are moral concerns here, as you are often downloading the games illegally -- unless you own the physical copy, that is. Even then, it is a gray area. Today, a company called Doyodo launches a new Linux-powered emulation console on Indiegogo. The device not only plays NES games, but Atari, Game Boy, PlayStation 1, Genesis, and more. You play using USB controllers. In addition, it can serve as a media player (with Kodi) or a full-fledged Linux desktop.
Google Play now offering 4K movies -- but there's a catch
If you have a 4K TV or monitor, you can enjoy Ultra HD content from the likes of YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon. You can get 4K Blu-rays, but you’ll need a compatible player, and they aren’t that cheap.
Starting today, Google is offering a new way to get your hands on the latest 4K resolution movies.
Iperius Backup adds incremental cloud backup
Iperius Backup 4.7.0 has shipped with support for incremental and differential backups to Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, OneDrive and Azure.
That’s the commercial builds, anyway -- as with previous editions, Iperius Backup Free 4.7.0 doesn’t support cloud backups.
The big security problems in 2017
If there’s one thing you can say with certainty about cyber-security in 2017, it’s that many companies are going to fail because they are simply not doing the right thing. Fundamental flaws still exist.
Until the technical people lift their heads up and see that security and business are different sides of the same coin, we will inevitably see more damaging attacks. When security people learn to speak in the language of business they will begin to understand just where in the organization they need to apply their expertise.
Windows 10 Creators Update will offer more advanced security features
Mostly everything that Microsoft has revealed about the forthcoming Windows 10 Creators Update to date has focused on the "creator" side of things, and 3D in particular.
Not wishing to completely alienate users with no interest in 3D and mixed reality, the company today reveals how the update will improve security and better "protect, defend and respond to threats".
Manage, view and annotate your PDFs with Gaaiho Reader 4.0
Gaaiho Reader is a lightweight and feature-packed PDF reader for Windows. The program opens with a more cluttered interface than Adobe Reader -- menus, buttons, sidebars -- but basic viewing remains very straightforward.
Drag and drop a file, scroll through it as usual, and you can use page thumbnails or bookmarks to jump directly to whatever section you need.
Insurance companies hesitate to leverage big data -- but things are changing
Insurance companies are mostly reluctant to use big data analytics to rate their customers’ driving habits, but the trend is slowly picking up pace, a new report by PTOLEMUS Consulting Group says.
The report is based on an analysis of the world’s 27 largest usage-based insurance (UBI) policies, including those of Admiral, Allianz, Allstate, AXA, Generali, Desjardins, Direct Line, State Farm, The Hartford, UnipolSai, Uniqa and Zurich. It says the number of UBI policies reached 14 million at the end of Q3 this year, but things are still slow.
Instagram getting safer
Instagram can be a very rewarding experience. If you have never tried it, please know that the concept is rather simple. A user posts either a picture or video, and then other people can comment on it. It is a refreshing alternative to other social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter.
Unfortunately, Instagram isn't always a safe space. As you can imagine, trolls will make fun of people's appearances in the photos by leaving negative comments. Not only does this harm someone's self-esteem, but it contributes to an overall declining society that feels to be increasingly dominated by negativity. Some of these users may even post images of themselves self-harming as a result. Today, Instagram announces upcoming changes to make the platform safer.
IDC says Apple Watch sales are nosediving -- Tim Cook touts 'off the charts' growth
Here's the deal. Apple doesn't want to publish smartwatch sales data in its quarterly financial reports. So, to tell us where Apple Watch stands in relation to the competition in the wearables market, analysts come up with estimates, which may or may not be close to the truth. IDC did the same thing this week, claiming that Apple Watch sales nosedived in Q3 2016.
Apple typically does not comment on such claims, as it prefers to keep quiet and not add any fuel to the fire. It's a strategy that works, because, first of all, the Apple Watch was never in any real kind of trouble to begin with. So far, it's been considered the market leader in its segment. But now that IDC announces a major decline, Tim Cook decides it is time to tell us that Apple Watch is actually "doing great".
Google goes green -- 100 percent renewable energy usage in 2017 to combat climate change
Big companies like to be seen to be doing their bit, particularly when it comes to the environment, and tech companies are no different. Google -- being one of the biggest companies in the world -- has huge energy requirements, and it's looking to help address the problem of climate change.
The company has already done a lot to increase the energy efficiency of its data centers, but in 2017 it is going further. It says that it will be fully powered by renewable energy from next year, and that includes both data centers and offices.
100 percent of holiday retailers vulnerable to cyber security issues
With more of us than ever doing our shopping online over the holiday period we want to feel that we can do so safely.
But a new report from security ratings company SecurityScorecard exposes cyber security vulnerabilities across 48 of the biggest US retailers.
Tape backups are too expensive
It’s almost 2017 and many organizations are still using tape to archive their data. According to a new report by Kroll Ontrack, that can be challenging, risky and expensive.
After polling 819 IT administrators, more than a quarter (27 percent) don’t have clear insight into which information is being backed up on legacy tapes. It can also be quite costly.
New platform gives businesses control of SaaS
The switch to as-a-service models for delivering software gives organizations a wide range of providers to choose from, but it can lead to a proliferation of different solutions and a challenge for management.
Cloud management specialist BetterCloud is launching a new unified software-as-a-service (SaaS) management platform to give IT departments powerful automation and governance capabilities.
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