Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

Living in a technological age where there is a near-fanatical obsession with privacy, a move towards encryption seems to make perfect sense. While there have been calls from some governments to ban encryption and demands for decryption keys to be handed over, there is a drive by companies and online services to try to increase security and privacy with encryption.

But a new report (Don't Panic: Making progress on the encryption debate) from Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society suggests that encryption may be all but pointless when it comes to curtailing surveillance. While governments and surveillance agencies may balk at the idea of people using encryption to 'go dark' online, and many people embrace the idea as a means of increasing their privacy, the report suggests that the task of surveillance is not going to be made impossible, and could be helped by the Internet of Things (IoT).

Continue reading →

2015 was the year that adblocking became one of the central debates concerning the web, and this looks set to continue through 2016. Adblock Plus is one of the best-known names in the field, but Apple also got in on the action by permitting adblocking tools for iOS. Now it's Samsung's turn to get in on the action.

The handset manufacturer is today starting the rollout of an over-the-air update that adds a new adblocking API to Android. Samsung has partnered with Rocketship Apps, and the company's Adblock Fast is the first app to take advantage of the API -- and there is a claimed 51 percent speed boost to be enjoyed.

Continue reading →

The 'liking' of online content goes hand in hand with using Facebook. It's a simple idea, and one that has been copied by the likes of Google, Twitter and countless other sites. But as great as the iconic Like button is, it's hugely limiting and insufficiently expressive. There was talk of Facebook introducing a Dislike button but this idea (if it ever existed) was canned in favor of 'reactions'. Facebook has been testing reactions for a while, and now the feature is on the verge of a global rollout.

Mark Zuckerberg said this week that the glorified emoji will spread to all users 'pretty soon', but while people will undoubtedly embrace the option to do something other than just 'like' friend's post (how appropriate it is to 'like' the status "My cat just died"?), reactions are still very limited. Users will be restricted to expressing just five emotions -- cut down from six as testers were apparently too stupid to understand a 'yay' emoji -- meaning that reactions will be almost as limiting and blunt as the humble Like button.

Continue reading →

It's possible that you reached this article purely by chance, or you may have Googled 'how to change the default search engine in Microsoft Edge'. However you got here, the fact that you're reading this indicates that you're either interested in Windows 10's Edge, or actively use it -- and this means there's something you need to know.

If you fall into the latter camp and use Edge's InPrivate mode to cover your online tracks, you might want to think about changing your web browser. Edge has already got some stick for its lack of extension support -- "it's coming, it's coming!" Yeah, whatever... so's Christmas -- but now it turns out that InPrivate mode is a privacy nightmare. It is possible to peak behind the curtain and see which sites have been visited when using a browsing mode that should mask this.

Continue reading →

Surface devices have been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently. As well as false accusations of Surface tablet causing problems at the NFL playoffs, Microsoft has also recalled Surface Pro power cords because of an overheating issue. Some problems are fixed with a little good PR, but other require software fixes.

Just a couple of days ago, Microsoft released a firmware update for Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book. While this addresses problems with Bluetooth performance, battery charging, and wireless issues, it does nothing to resolve the power management and battery drain issues many users are experiencing. Microsoft says a fix for this is still in the works.

Continue reading →

Security researchers have discovered a vulnerability in LG G3 smartphones which could be exploited to run arbitrary JavaScript to steal data. The issue has been named Snap, and was discovered by Israeli security firms BugSec and Cynet.

What is particularly concerning about Snap is that it affects the Smart Notice which is installed on all LG G3s by default. By embedding malicious script in a contact, it is possible to use WebView to run server side code via JavaScript. If exploited, the vulnerability could be used to gather information from SD cards, steal data from the likes of WhatsApp, and steal private photos.

Continue reading →

Google's security bounty programs can be quite lucrative for those who discover problems, and the company has just published a report looking back at the security landscape in 2015. Entitled Google Security Rewards - 2015 Year in Review, the report reveals the financial rewards that have been paid out in the last 12 months.

In all, Google has paid out more than $2 million to more than 300 people, but Sanmay Ved is probably one of the more interesting reward recipients. He's the guy who -- very briefly -- managed to buy Google.com before having it taken off his hands. Google offered him a $6,006.13 reward, but there's a little more to the story.

Continue reading →

Facebook is closing down Parse, its mobile development platform, just three years after acquiring it for $85 million. The shutdown comes as something of a surprise as it is not long since Facebook was talking about using Parse to make giant steps into the Internet of Things.

But it seems that Facebook's IoT future is going to be one that is Parse-free. The shutdown will take place over the course of the next year, but starts with immediate effect. As of right now Parse is in wind-down mode, and will be fully shuttered by January 28, 2017. Believed to power tens of thousands of mobile apps, the killing of Parse will see Facebook diverting funds to other ventures.

Continue reading →

As workers eagerly awaited the arrival of their first payday of 2016, and others rushed to file their tax returns ahead of Sunday's deadline, HSBC's online banking services were knocked offline today.

The banking giant was hit by a DDoS, but it is not yet clear who is responsible. The attack meant that customers were unable to access their online accounts, and it is just the latest in a strong of high-profile security issues to affect well-known sites.

Continue reading →

When it comes to supporting older operating systems (or not), it is usually Microsoft that we are talking about. But this week Apple took its users by surprise by releasing an update to Snow Leopard -- the lengthily-named Mac App Store Update for OS X Snow Leopard.

If you are wondering why an OS update should come as a surprise, it is because support for Snow Leopard came to an end in the latter half of 2013. It is an update that is ostensibly about ensuring continued access to the Mac App Store, but it also helps to give Snow Leopard users an easier path to upgrade to El Capitan.

Continue reading →

Microsoft's cloud first, mobile first philosophy seems to be paying off. The company today announced its Q2 2016 earnings, with profit and revenue exceeding predictions. Revenue fell very slightly to $25.69 billion, but this was still higher than analysts expected; the slight drop has been partially blamed on a decreased interest in Windows.

Confidence in Satya Nadella's leadership seems high, with stock prices rising by more than 26 percent in the last year. His belief in the cloud appears to be paying off, with Microsoft's Intelligent Cloud business generating revenue of $6.3 billion. Overall, the company expects its entire annual cloud revenue to hit $9.4 billion, up from $8.2 billion.

Continue reading →

Lights! Camera! Action! Facebook is home to pictures, videos, comments, news, train-of-thought ramblings, and much more. Until recently, videos have been limited to those that have been pre-recorded, but that's about to change.

Facebook recently opened up the ability to share a live video stream to a limited number of people, and the social network is about to expand this. Starting today, live video sharing is being made available to US iPhone users, and it won't be long before the feature is available globally, and also to Android users.

Continue reading →

Yesterday, TripAdvisor made a couple of announcements. The first was innocuous enough, letting people know that there was now a TripAdvisor app for Windows 10 available to download for free. Lovely stuff, if you like that sort of thing. The second announcement is less pleasing. It will be "pre-loaded on millions of Windows 10 compatible devices".

This is clearly going to be something that divides opinion, but I don't think I'm alone in thinking that padding out Windows 10 Mobile with crapware might not be the best way to attract users. There's no denying that TripAdvisor can prove useful -- it's helped me to make dining decisions on more than one occasion -- but pre-installed apps are rarely, if ever, a good idea, and Microsoft is hardly in a possible to put a (nother) foot wrong with Windows 10.

Continue reading →

In many ways, virtual reality has come a very long way over the past couple of decades or so. But while old VR headsets looked rather techy and somewhat futuristic -- something that is still true of Oculus Rift -- there is also a cheap, simple version made out of little more than cardboard.

Google Cardboard provides smartphone users with a quick, easy and, most importantly, cheap way to transform a handset into a virtual reality unit. Just over a year and a half since the origami VR kit launched, Google shares some statistics about how it has been received and used.

Continue reading →

Reviews in Google Play are a useful way to decide whether an app is worth downloading, and to determine whether the developer description is accurate. For some time it has been possible to flag up reviews as unhelpful, but starting today Google is removing this option to take a more positive approach.

Gone is the 'mark as unhelpful', replaced instead by a less prominent Spam option. Now dominant is a Facebook-inspired thumbs up button to indicate that you 'like' a review, or show that it is otherwise imbued with positive virtues. Before you get too excited, it's not yet possible to comment on reviews.

Continue reading →