Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

If you're not in the habit of keeping up to date with the latest version of the Linux kernel, now might be a good time to think about doing so. Systems based on versions of the kernel older than 5.0.8 suffer from a severe flaw in the implementation of RDS over TCP.

Left unpatched, the flaw could enable an attacker to compromise a system. The National Vulnerability Database entry says: "There is a race condition leading to a use-after-free, related to net namespace cleanup".

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Google's business relies on gathering information about its users and customers, so the company take every opportunity it can to reap as much data as possible. As such, it should surprise no one to learn that Google has been using Gmail to keep a record of things you have bought -- both online and offline.

A little-known page (it's not exactly secret, but nor is it made particularly obvious) of your Google account reveals years of purchases. Google insists that the data on the Purchases page can only be seen by individuals, and is not used to tailor ads, but the clandestine, opaque nature of the tracking -- coupled with the fact that the data is tricky to delete -- is unlikely to go down well with Gmail users with concerns about privacy.

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Grumpy Cat, the feline subject of many memes, has died at the age of 7.

The internet celebrity rose to fame because of her delightfully dour demeanour and a sour face that made the online world smile. An internet celebrity for seven years, Grumpy Cat (aka Tardar Sauce) shuffled off this mortal coil this week, leaving the web a sadder place.

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Microsoft has been gradually hugging Linux closer to its heart, making it ever easier to install Linux-based operating systems within Windows 10. Now Ubuntu fans have a new option when it comes to installing their favorite distro.

It is now possible to install either Ubuntu 18.04 LTS or 19.04 using Windows 10's Hyper-V Manager -- the admin tool designed to make it easy to manage virtual machines.

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The White House has launched a new tool that enables people to report the fact that they have been kicked off the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

The tool is aimed at people who have had their social media presence curtailed and "suspect political bias" is involved. Anyone who feels aggrieved is invited to "share your story with President Trump".

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Google is recalling the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) version of its Titan Security Key, and is offering free replacements to owners.

The recall comes after the company became aware of a security issue which could allow a nearby hacker to hijack the security device. Google says that the security issue only affects the Bluetooth versions of the 2FA device sold in the US.

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Donald Trump has declared a national emergency to fight "foreign adversaries" which he says are "increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in information and communications technology".

An executive order means that US companies are banned from buying and using foreign telecoms equipment which is deemed to be a threat to national security. Huawei and 70 affiliates have also been added to the US Commerce Department’s "Entity List" meaning that special approval would be needed to purchase such equipment, and also for companies deemed to pose a threat to buy US-made hardware.

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True to form, the launch of the latest OnePlus handsets have been preceded by numerous leaks, rumors and teasers. As such, today's launch of the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro contained few surprises, but the phones are now here and the launch confirms and clarifies many details.

The OnePlus 7 Pro is at the top of the range. Boasting a 90Hz QHD+ Display, Snapdragon 855 and the option of up to 12GB of RAM. Then, of course, there are the cameras. The controversial pop-up design of the selfie camera isn't going to be to everyone's liking, but the specs of the main shooters are hugely impressive. We've known that this will be the first OnePlus handset to be more directly comparable with the likes of Samsung flagships in terms of price, and this means the OnePlus 7 Pro costs between $699 and $749. For those on more restricted budget, the OnePlus 7 clocks in at slightly lower price.

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Social media services are hardly regarded as bastions of privacy, and the latest slip-up by Twitter goes some way to showing why. Twitter has revealed that it "may have accidentally collected location data" about users, that this data was shared with one of its "trusted partners".

Twitter blames the "inadvertent" data collection on a bug, and says that the issue affects some iOS users. It also says that precise location data was not collected or shared, but zip code or city-level only.

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Users of WhatsApp could be infected by dangerous spyware just by receiving a call. The spyware, which is thought to  originate from Israeli cyber intelligence firm NSO Group, can be installed just by calling a target -- there is no need for the call to be answered.

A security advisory on the Facebook website does not go into much detail about the exploit, which takes advantage of a buffer overflow vulnerability. WhatsApp says it was discovered earlier this month, and with 1.5 billion users, there are a huge number of people that are potentially affected.

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The US Supreme Court has said that consumers can sue Apple for allegedly violating antitrust laws with its App Store.

A group of iPhone owners were seeking to bring a class action lawsuit against the company, and now Justice Brett Kavanaugh has said they can do so. The group says that in charging a 30 percent commission, Apple was making users overpay for apps, and that the requirement for apps to be sold through the App Store was unfair.

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GitHub has launched the GitHub Package Registry, its new package management service.

Starting out as a limited beta, teh GitHub Package Registry gives developers, coders and organizations an easy way to publish public or private packages next to source code. For now, there is support for the likes of JavaScript (npm), Java (Maven), Ruby (RubyGems), .NET (NuGet), and Docker images, with the promise of more to come.

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One of the biggest announcements from this year's Google I/O related to the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL, but this was far from being all there was to get excited about. Microsoft may be increasingly embracing Linux in Windows 10, and Google is doing the same with Linux on Chromebooks.

Support for Linux apps on Chromebook is nothing new, but Google has now announced that all Chromebooks that launch from this point forward will be fully functional Linux laptops, regardless of whether they are ARM or Intel devices.

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Launch Word, Excel, PowerPoint or some other Microsoft Office app on your computer, and you'll be greeted by a dialog entitled "Your data, controlled by you". You'll then be invited to review your privacy settings to determine how much telemetry data Microsoft is able to collect through Office.

Earlier this month, Microsoft made reference to privacy and user feedback in its office suite, saying that "Office is built on trust". Now, the company is using a popup dialog to give users a chance to control the data they share; or, looked more cynically, to trick them into agreeing to share more data.

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An investigation by NBC News has found that photo memories app Ever has been using billions of images uploaded by people to develop a facial recognition system without making it obvious to users.

Ever is a photo storage app that offers "free, unlimited private backup of all your life's memories". It's not until you delve into the company's privacy policy that you learn that in using the service, users are agreeing not only to have their photos used in facial recognition training, but also for Ever to sell the resulting technology to private companies, law enforcement agencies and the military.

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