Slack launches new integrations for Microsoft Teams and more
The problem with messaging and video conferencing platforms is that there are just too many of them. You and your work colleagues might be happily working away in Slack, but need to communicate with another team using Microsoft Teams.
To help get around this issue -- and to save you from having to switch allegiances -- Slack is launching new integration options via a new add-on app. This means it is possible to place a Teams call from Slack, and there are many more integrations to come.
Zoom claims to offer end-to-end encryption -- even though that's not strictly true
Security is a serious concern for anyone using the internet, but it most certainly is for businesses. In seeking a video conferencing tool to see them through the home-working coronavirus has forced many people into, Zoom has proved to be an incredibly popular choice, and its proclamation of offering end-to-end encryption very probably swayed a few decisions.
An investigation carried out by the Intercept found that, despite Zoom's claims, the service does not really support end-to-end encryption for video and audio content. In reality, all it offers is TLS, but Zoom has chosen to refer to this as being end-to-end encryption.
Zoom security vulnerability can be used to steal Windows login credentials
Zoom's popularity has accelerated in recent weeks thanks to the number of people now forced to work from home and conduct meetings online. Now security researchers have discovered a worrying vulnerability in the software that could be used to steal Windows login credentials.
The vulnerability steams from the fact that Zoom converts URLs that are sent in messages into clickable links. The same is true for UNC paths, and if such a link is clicked, it is possible to grab a user's login name and their NTLM password hash and decrypt it.
Microsoft releases PowerToys v0.16.0, adding four new tools including Image Resizer and Window Walker
Since Microsoft first announced PowerToys for Windows 10, there was great excitement about the return of the collection of utilities. The company has been drip-feeding us new features over the last few months, and now PowerToys v0.16.0 has landed, bringing with it no fewer than four new tools.
The most interesting new arrivals are the Image Resizer Window Shell extension which provides easy access to image resizing options from the context menu, and Window Walker which is a text-based Alt-Tab alternative.
Marriott International reveals details of another data breach
Towards the end of 2018, Marriott International suffered a data breach of its Starwood Hotel reservation database. Now the hotel chain has revealed that it suffered a second data breach earlier this year.
The company says that at the end of February it noticed that an "unexpected amount of guest information" could have been accessed using the login credentials of two employees. It is thought that this access started in the middle of January, and up to 5.2 million customers have been affected.
Now it's easier to see just what data Facebook and Instagram are collecting about you
It's no secret that Facebook gathers staggering amounts of information about its users across its various products. This is something that many people just accept, but there is a slight discomfort in not knowing quite what is being collected.
To add a little balm to this aching fear, Facebook has announced updates to its Download Your Information tool on Facebook and Download Your Data tool on Instagram. The updates mean that while you can do little to stop Facebook from tracking you, you can at least download and see what data it is collecting about you.
Microsoft releases out-of-band update to fix VPN bug
After installing February's KB4535996 update, some Windows 10 users started to experience VPN problems. Microsoft promised to release an off-schedule update for the issue which was causing connectivity issues. Now the company has made good on that promise.
In all, there are four different updates available. You need to install the correct one according to the version of Windows 10 you are running.
Microsoft is bringing vertical tabs to Edge so you can make better use of your widescreen monitor
Websites are, on the whole, vertical experiences, whereas laptop screens and desktop monitors are, in most cases, horizontal ones. Despite the relatively limited amount of vertical space available, browsers tend to further reduce this by placing tabs, menus, toolbars and more at the top of the screen. But Microsoft is ready to try something different.
The company has announced a number of new features that are coming to the new Chromium-based version of Microsoft Edge. Among these features are vertical tabs which make more efficient use of screen space.
Microsoft clarifies a slightly misleading claim about a leap in cloud service usage during coronavirus pandemic
Over the weekend, Microsoft post an article on its Azure blog announcing that there had been an astronomical 775 percent surge in the use of its cloud services. Despite the massive increase in traffic, the company added, uptime was good. But the blog post wasn't entirely correct.
Since we published a story about the claims, Microsoft has contacted us to say that it had not been "was not as clear as they intended to be with the previous statement". The company has provided updated stats explaining what it meant to say -- and it's rather different.
Install the Microsoft News Bar beta to keep track of news and stocks in Windows 10
Some people are obsessed with keeping up to date with breaking news, and this is something that's true of more and more people given the current situation with the coronavirus pandemic.
Microsoft has a solution available for news addicts in the form of the News Bar beta. This free app adds a news ticker to the top or bottom of your screen, or you can use a side-panel at either edge of the screen. You have a choice between a text or image-based version in all cases, and you'll be shown headlines from thousands of trusted sources. It can display stocks too.
Coronavirus has led to a 775 percent increase in usage of Microsoft Azure cloud services
This weekend, Microsoft has given an insight into the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on its services. The company says that there has been a huge increase in Teams usage, and there are not over 44 million daily users.
In regions where there are isolation and home sheltering orders in place, Microsoft says that there has been a colossal 775 percent increase in usage of its cloud services. Despite the surge in demand, there have not been any significant service disruptions.
Microsoft Edge finally gains extension synchronization
If you've used Firefox, Chrome or numerous other browsers, you'll be used to the extensions you install synchronizing between device. This simple but wonderfully handy feature is something that has been sadly lacking from Microsoft Edge, but now this is changing.
Microsoft has promised extension syncing for a little while, and the company is finally starting to roll it out to users. But not everyone is going to get the feature right now.
Until Apple patches this security flaw your VPN traffic might not be secure
The recently open sourced ProtonVPN has issued a warning about a bug in iOS that leaves some VPN traffic unencrypted.
Apple is yet to release a fix for the VPN bypass vulnerability which affects iOS 13.3.1 and later. The flaw means that some connections may exist outside of the secure VPN tunnel for several hours, leaving traffic open to interception and potentially exposing users' real IP addresses.
Microsoft will release off-schedule patch for VPN connectivity problems caused by buggy update
Microsoft is racing to prepare an out-of-band patch that will hopefully fix VPN problems introduced by February's KB4535996 update. This update was released to address search and print problems in Windows 10, but users complained of slowed performance, issues with sleep.
On top of this, Microsoft also acknowledged that the update could cause connectivity problems for VPN users, as well as for various applications. With so many people currently remote working, there is pressure to get these issues addressed, hence the rush job on an out-of-band fix.
Zoom apologizes for Facebook privacy fiasco and updates app to stop data sharing
After an investigation by Motherboard's Vice, video-conferencing app Zoom was found to be sharing user data with Facebook. Data was being sent from iPhones to Facebook, regardless of whether users had Facebook accounts or not, and the fact that data was being shared was not made apparent in privacy policies.
Zoom's popularity has skyrocketed recently, with more and more people looking for remote working solutions during coronavirus lockdowns. Now the company has apologized for the secretive data sharing, saying that it takes privacy extremely seriously. There's also a new version of the app available that doesn't use the Facebook SDK.
Sofia Elizabella's Bio
Sofia Wyciślik-Wilson is a queer, transgender journalist based in Poland. She has been writing about technology for more than two decades, and after years working for magazines, her writing moved online. She is fueled by literature, music, nature, and vegetables. You can find her on Bluesky and Mastodon. If you like what you read, you can Buy her a Coffee!
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