Cryptominers still dominate the malware charts
The latest Global Threat Index from Check Point shows that at the end of last year cryptominers still took the top three places in the malware charts, despite an overall drop in value across all cryptocurrencies in 2018.
Coinhive retained its number one position for the 13th month in a row, impacting 12 percent of organizations worldwide. XMRig was the second most prevalent malware with a global reach of eight percent, closely followed by the JSEcoin miner in third with a global impact of seven percent.
Windows 10 has a built-in free screen recorder that you might not know about
You've very probably been using Windows 10 for a long time now, but that doesn't mean that you've discovered everything it has to offer. The operating system is packed with features, but there are some that are hidden away to the extent that they could be considered secrets.
One such gem is the screen recording tool. What? You didn't know that Windows 10 could record videos of on-screen activity? You're not alone. The screen recorder is built into the Game bar and you may well not have seen it. If you've ever wondered how to make video of what you're doing in Windows, this is precisely the utility you need. Here's how to access and use it -- including details of a secret keyboard shortcut.
Microsoft ends Windows 7 support one year from today
It took until last month for Windows 10 to finally overtake Windows 7's usage share but the older OS remains hugely popular. Mainstream support for Windows 7 stopped in January 2015, but users have continued to receive security fixes and patches for known issues as part of Microsoft's extended support, which runs for five years. However, that's due to come to an end on January 14 2020, exactly one year from today.
The cessation of support could prove a nightmare for enterprises, as according to a new 'Death of Windows 7' report from content delivery firm, Kollective, as many as 43 percent of enterprises are still running Microsoft’s nine-year-old operating system.
Huawei sacks employee arrested in Poland on spying charges
Chinese smartphone-maker Huawei has sacked an employee after he was arrested in Poland, charged with spying. Weijing Wang, the company's sales director in Poland, was dismissed by Huawei as it tries to limit the damage to its reputation -- the company is already viewed as a potential security risk by numerous countries including the US.
Huawei insists that the charges leveled against Wang are unrelated to the company, but said that the allegations brought it into disrepute. Poland's internal affairs minister, Joachim Brudziński, has called on NATO and the EU to work together to decide whether Huawei should be excluded from operating in some markets.
Google Chromecast Audio is no more. It rests in peace. It is bereft of life.
If you were hoping to get your hands on a Chromecast Audio, you're out of luck: Google has stopped manufacturing the device.
More than this, the audio-only version of Chromecast is out of stock pretty much everywhere, so your only hope of getting one now is probably to pick one up second hand. Google says it has a range of products that users can turn to if they want to enjoy music, so Chromecast Audio was deemed surplus to requirements.
Kodi 18 'Leia' RC5 available to download now
The full release of Kodi 18 is still likely a couple of weeks away, but today the kodi Foundation releases the fifth and (what should be) final release candidate.
RC5 comes with a number of important fixes.
Google Play now tells you how much space you have left on your phone
With so many apps and games available in Google Play, it's easy to get carried away and fill up your phone. You can use Settings to keep track of how much space you have left, but now Google has made it possible to monitor free space from within the Play Store.
A new storage indicator lets you monitor the amount of storage space you have available, so you can easily tell if you're going to have room to download more from the store -- and also to make room for those apps you desperately want to install.
SuperTuxKart, the open source Mario Kart clone, achieves beta status with network support
While I appreciate hardware makers and game developers pushing the boundaries of what gaming can be, it is important to remember one important fact -- fun trumps all. In other words, it doesn't matter how much processing power a computer or console has, or how beautiful a game's graphics are, if it isn't fun to play! That's probably a big reason why retro-gaming is so popular these days.
For Linux users, gaming is getting much better these days, especially with Steam support. One game in particular, however, has brought much joy to Linux users without the need for high-end graphics cards. Called "SuperTuxKart," it is essentially an open source clone of Mario Kart, that is simply fun to play. While the title character is the Linux mascot, there are Windows and macOS versions too. Thankfully, the game is about to get even better, as networking is being added -- allowing you to play against others over LAN or the internet. Today, following an alpha period, that feature finally becomes available in beta, with version 0.10-beta1.
1Password 7.3 for Windows unveils new secure desktop feature, numerous other improvements
AgileBits has released 1Password 7.3 for Windows clients. 1Password offers secure form-filling and password management tools and is also available on Mac, iOS and Android.
The new Windows build unveils a new Secure Desktop mode, improvements to the Watchtower feature and numerous other improvements, including customizable keyboard shortcuts and more robust update mechanism
As the US government shutdown rolls on, numerous TLS certificates expire, leaving sites inaccessible
With the US government shutdown in its third week, President Trump continues to try to convince both his own party and the Democrats to agree to fund one of his campaign promises -- a wall on the southern border.
So far, the shutdown has seen national parks and more left unstaffed, and today is the first payday on which hundreds of thousands of federal workers will not receive a paycheck. Another side effect of the shutdown is that numerous government websites are offline as their TLS certificates have expired, and no one is available to renew them.
Best Windows 10 apps this week
Three-hundred-and-seventeen in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days.
The next feature update for Windows 10 will reserve about 7 Gigabytes of storage for the system on new installations to improve reliability.
How to disable reserved storage in Windows 10
If you have upgraded to Windows 10 version 1903 -- or Windows 10 19H1 as you may know it -- you will find that a portion of your hard drive has been set aside thanks to the new "reserved storage" option.
Microsoft introduced this Storage Reserve (as it is also known) to "ensure proper performance and successful updates of your device", but not everyone is happy about it. You may be running low on disk space, or you just might like to remain in control of how your hard drive is used -- in which case, read on to find out how to disable reserved storage.
Netflix could use AI to clamp down on people sharing their account with friends and family
Netflix has millions of users around the world, but how many of these are actually paying customers? Many of us either know (or are) people who share their Netflix account with friends and family, or leech off the one person they know that's willing to pay for a subscription.
But Netflix free rides could be coming to an end. At CES, UK-based firm Synamedia revealed artificial intelligence software that could be used by Netflix and other companies to detect and block the sharing of account credentials.
Organizations suffer breaches despite confidence in their security measures
According to a new survey, 85 percent of respondents are either very or somewhat confident in their organization's security program, yet 41 percent say their company has experienced a security breach and 20 percent more are unsure.
The study from big data specialist Syncsort finds the most common type of breaches are virus/malware attacks (76 percent) and phishing (72 percent). Interestingly, virus attacks came from internal sources roughly half the time while phishing usually came from external sources (78 percent).
Chuwi's HeroBook is a super-cheap Windows 10 laptop
If you're on a tight budget, or you're looking for a cheap "throw-away" laptop you can pop into a bag when you're travelling, Chuwi's HeroBook could be for you. Aimed at students and "low-income workers", the HeroBook's specs are nothing to get too excited about, but this is not the point of this particular laptop.
What the HeroBook is about is giving users a reasonable experience and above-acceptable hardware for a super-low price. For $199 you could kit yourself out with a laptop that is capable enough for day-to-day computing, or could serve as a secondary laptop for travelling with -- at this price, you won't mind too much if you lose or damage it!
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