Wayne Williams

Many books discuss the technical underpinnings and complex configurations necessary for cybersecurity -- but they fail to address the everyday steps that boards, managers, and employees can take to prevent attacks. The Cybersecurity Playbook is the step-by-step guide to protecting your organization from unknown threats and integrating good security habits into everyday business situations.

This book provides clear guidance on how to identify weaknesses, assess possible threats, and implement effective policies. Recognizing that an organization’s security is only as strong as its weakest link, this book offers specific strategies for employees at every level.

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It’s not going to be too long until Microsoft starts to roll out Windows 10 20H2 to users -- in fact you can already install the feature update now, should you choose to.

Insiders that prefer to be on the cutting edge today get a new Dev Channel build to play around with, although this one is mostly about fixes and general improvements.

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The cloud is taking over the IT industry. Any organization housing a large amount of data or a large infrastructure has started moving cloud-ward -- and AWS rules the roost when it comes to cloud service providers, with its closest competitor having less than half of its market share. This highlights the importance of security on the cloud, especially on AWS. While a lot has been said (and written) about how cloud environments can be secured, performing external security assessments in the form of pentests on AWS is still seen as a dark art.

Hands-On AWS Penetration Testing with Kali Linux aims to help pentesters as well as seasoned system administrators with a hands-on approach to pentesting the various cloud services provided by Amazon through AWS using Kali Linux. To make things easier for novice pentesters, the book focuses on building a practice lab and refining penetration testing with Kali Linux on the cloud.

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If you’re looking for a way to feel particularly old, the news that Windows 95 was released a quarter of a century ago today should do it. You can read my recollections of its launch here.

If that’s not enough nostalgia for you, why not experience Microsoft’s game changing OS for yourself, by running Slack developer Felix Rieseberg’s app version.

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I first started writing about computers for a living in 1993, when I joined a UK magazine called PC Home. Back then we used Windows 3.11 and MS-DOS, and much of our online life was spent on CompuServe, although the World Wide Web (and the "information superhighway") was slowly starting to make its presence felt.

After I’d been in the job for a couple of years, Microsoft announced a new version of its OS: Windows 95. The launch event was held on a 12-acre sports field in Redmond. Over 500 press representatives attended, along with 2,000 computer industry heavyweights. Over 70,000 others watched live worldwide via satellite television feeds. The new OS was hugely different to 3.11 -- being 32-bit for starters, integrating DOS and Windows and boasting a smart new look that included a desktop, taskbar and Start button. And I absolutely hated it.

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We’ve covered Spydish on BetaNews before. The tool is great if you want to boost your privacy and security in Windows 10.

Today Belim, the program’s developer, announces that Spydish has undergone a name change, becoming Privatezilla, and that’s not all. The program is also becoming open source. In order to achieve this, some important changes have been made, which includes replacing certain features.

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If you thought you were going to get through the week without a new Windows 10 Dev Channel release from Microsoft you were very much mistaken.

Build 20197 arrives on what used to be the Fast ring with the headline change being the arrival of Disk Management in Settings.

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Microsoft rolled out an updated Windows 10 Start menu to Windows Insiders a month ago, and that menu is now available to all -- if you follow these instructions. The tweaked design removes the solid color backplates behind the logos and adds a translucent background to tiles.

However, it could be that bigger changes are afoot. In a video showcasing Microsoft’s new icon system the search giant also reveals a stunning new-look Start menu.

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Yesterday, Microsoft rolled out a new Windows 10 build to those insiders on the Beta Channel, and today it follows that up with a new release for those in the Dev Channel.

Build 20190 comes with a new post-update experience which can be accessed through the Tips app. This useful addition tells you what has changed each time you install a major update.

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As reports of major data breaches fill the headlines, it has become impossible for any business, large or small, to ignore the importance of cybersecurity. Most books on the subject, however, are either too specialized for the non-technical professional or too general for positions in the IT trenches.

Thanks to author Nadean Tanner’s wide array of experience from teaching at a University to working for the Department of Defense, the Cybersecurity Blue Team Toolkit strikes the perfect balance of substantive and accessible, making it equally useful to those in IT or management positions across a variety of industries. This handy guide takes a simple and strategic look at best practices and tools available to both cybersecurity management and hands-on professionals, whether they be new to the field or looking to expand their expertise.

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10 months ago, at its Surface event, alongside the Surface Laptop 3, the Surface Pro 7, and the Surface Pro X, Microsoft had a surprise for everyone with Surface Duo, a foldable Android-based phone with two screens.

Today, the company makes the device available for pre-order in the US, with in-store and online sales beginning September 10.

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The Windows 10 Insider Beta Channel is what used to be the Slow ring, and updates pushed out here are typically a lot more stable than those on the Dev Channel (previously the Fast ring).

Today, Microsoft rolls out Build 19042.450 to the Beta Channel, and the new flight is mostly about resolving a number of security vulnerabilities.

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Two weeks ago, the Kodi Foundation released what is intended to be the final build in the Kodi 18 'Leia' branch, with the team now switching its focus to the follow up, Kodi 19 'Matrix'.

At the same time, the team also released the first Alpha version for Matrix, and it comes with a lot of changes and improvements.

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Have I Been Pwned is unquestionably the best way to discover if your email address has been leaked in a data breach. The site can also check any passwords you use to see if they appear on the web and it can be fun entering some common choices to reveal how often they’ve been leaked. "Password", for example, has appeared in data breaches 3.7 million times, while "123456" crops up a whopping 23.5 million times.

The service is used in numerous third-party tools too, including Spybot Identity Monitor and 1Password. Have I Been Pwned is the work of Troy Hunt, and after failing to sell it earlier in the year, he has decided to take the step of opening source the code base in a quest for a more sustainable future.

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Windows 10 currently lets you choose from two styles -- Dark Mode and Light Mode -- which you can enable and switch between in the Settings > Personalization section of the OS.

If you’ve ever wished for access to more style modes than that, then you’ll be interested in a new app which lets you customize Windows with additional styles, and can even give Windows 10 a convincing retro makeover.

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