Retail sector leads in data breaches as criminals target corporate networks
The retail sector suffered the most breaches in 2017, accounting for 16.7 percent followed by the finance and insurance industry at 13.1 percent and hospitality at 11.9 percent.
Geographically, North America is in the lead with 43 percent of breaches, followed by the Asia Pacific region at 30 percent, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at 23 percent and Latin America at four percent.
Western Digital unveils affordable and fast Black 3D NVMe SSD with up to 1TB capacity
While prices for NVMe solid state drives are dropping, it is important to remember that all such drives are not created equally. We recently shared a new Kingston NVMe drive with you -- the A1000 -- and while I am sure it's a fine product, it only uses PCIe Gen 3.0 x2, making it slower than drives utilizing x4. Consumers will have to decide if the speed trade-off is worth any potential savings.
Today, Western Digital launches the Black 3D NVMe SSD, and it looks amazing. While it is affordable, like the aforementioned Kingston drive, it uses PCIe Gen 3.0 x4, giving it insane performance. In other words, with this drive, you don't have to sacrifice speed for savings.
Intel: some processors will never receive Meltdown and Spectre patches
With little fanfare, Intel has revealed that some processors will simply never receive microcode updates that will patch against the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities.
In a document entitled Microcode Revision Guidelines, the chip-maker says that a wide range of processor families -- equating to over 200 CPUs -- will not receive any more updates. While the majority of the affected chips were on sale between 2007 and 2011, it's safe to assume that a large proportion of them are still in use, meaning that a lot of systems will remain unprotected.
Privacy: Facebook will roll out GDPR controls to the whole world, not just Europe
Mark Zuckerberg has laid out Facebook's plans for the future in a conference call with reporters. In it, he said that the social network now planned to bring GDPR-style privacy controls to all of its users, not just those in Europe for whom there will soon be a legal obligation to do so. The new legislation grants people more rights to access the data companies store about them, and demand it be deleted.
The Facebook chief had previously said that non-European users would only be getting access to new options that were "in [the] spirit" of GDPR, but the backlash the social network has faced recently with privacy controversies seems to have forced Zuckerberg's hand.
JBL launches 'Reflect Mini 2' and 'Reflect Contour 2' Bluetooth sport headphones
When Apple removed the 3.5mm audio jack from the iPhone, some people freaked out. Look, I understand that change can be scary, but an analog port has no place on modern smartphones. For those that struggled to cope, Apple even included a free dongle, allowing these Luddites to take their time transitioning to the new standard -- Bluetooth. Of course, despite the negative feedback Apple received, many Android manufacturers followed suit and removed the headphone jack too. The same thing is happening with the iPhone X's notch, but I digress.
Regardless of whether your smartphone does or doesn't have a headphone port, you should still invest in some quality Bluetooth earbuds. Not only are they more convenient and fashionable, but they can be better for active folks too, as there is no annoying cord going into your phone which can get tangled. Today, JBL unveils a pair of new wireless earbuds that focus on an active lifestyle. The "Reflect Mini 2" and "Reflect Contour 2," as they are called, are very similar, but the latter has a handy ear-hook to prevent slippage. Best of all, they are both priced under $100, making them very affordable.
OnePlus 6 will let you hide the notch (eventually) as not everyone can stand the look of it
There is nothing you can do about the notch. Regardless of how you feel about it, it's here to stay. However, that does not mean that you have to look at it. OnePlus has confirmed that its upcoming flagship will give users the option to hide it.
OnePlus seems to have had a change of heart with regards to the display notch, after co-founder Carl Pei told would-be users to "learn to love [it]" just a few days ago. The company plans to introduce an option that would "black out the background" in the notification and status bars in a future update for the OnePlus 6.
Facebook users in Europe will soon have better privacy protection than those in the US
In a few weeks, privacy is set to improve for Facebook users -- at least this is the case for people in Europe. May 25 sees the implementation of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and it means that European users will have the right to not only request details of the information stored about them, but also the right to demand its deletion.
While this will be a legal obligation within Europe, it would have been the perfect opportunity for Facebook to extend the same rights to its users around the world. But it's not going to. Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed that GDPR-style privacy protection is not going to be extended to the US and other parts of the world.
21 percent of open source serverless applications have critical vulnerabilities
Serverless computing is increasingly popular because it eliminates infrastructure concerns. However, a new report raises worries about its security.
According to an audit by serverless security company PureSec, more than one in five serverless applications has critical security vulnerabilities.
1Password 7 Beta for Mac and Windows reveals major facelift, lots of new and improved features
AgileBits has released beta versions of its upcoming 1Password 7.0 Beta for Mac and 1Password 7.0 Beta for Windows clients. 1Password offers secure form-filling and password management tools and is also available on iOS and Android.
The beta showcases several major new features, with Windows gaining a handy new sidebar view to ape the Mac version, which sees its own sidebar improved along with a host of other new additions and feature improvements.
Employees have too much access to sensitive data
Lax policies and a lack of control is giving far too many employees access to sensitive data according to the latest Global Data Risk Report from data security specialist Varonis.
The report, based on analysis of Data Risk Assessments conducted by Varonis in 2017 for customers and potential customers on their file systems, uncovers some startling figures, with 58 percent of organizations found to have more than 100,000 folders open to all employees.
Hiring gamers may be the answer to the cyber security skills gap
A new survey from McAfee says that IT security staff report needing to increase their workforces by 24 percent to adequately manage their organization's cyber threats.
Yet a skills crisis means 84 percent admit it's difficult to attract staff and 31 percent say they don't actively do anything to attract new talent. However, 72 percent of respondents say hiring experienced video gamers into the IT department seems like a good way to plug the cyber security skills gap.
Shooter at YouTube headquarters was angry at demonetization of her videos
Nasim Aghdam walked into the YouTube headquarters in North California yesterday, shot and wounded three people, and then killed herself. While the precise motive behind the shooting is still under investigation, Aghdam's father has said that she was furious with YouTube for demonetizing her videos.
This is in line with posts made by her on her own website where she complained about YouTube only allowing certain channels to grow, alleging that her own videos were being filtered. In the wake of the shooting, technology executives including Twitter's Jack Dorsey renewed calls for gun control.
Huawei statement dismisses US concerns about security
Huawei is being shunned by the US because of the perception that its hardware could be compromised and used by the Chinese government for espionage. The FCC has blocked US mobile carriers from using federal money to purchase products or services from the company on security grounds, and Huawei is understandably unhappy about this.
The smartphone maker has dismissed security claims as "simply not true" and says that it is "no security threat in any country". The Chinese company says that it is disappointed with the FCC's proposal, pointing out that it would give rural operators -- and, in turn, customers -- fewer options to choose from.
Kingston launches affordable A1000 PCIe NVMe SSD
If your computer has a compatible PCIe-based M.2 slot, and you aren't currently using it, you are making a big mistake. Why? Because NVMe solid state drives are insanely fast -- putting SATA variants to shame. If your desktop doesn't have an M.2 slot, don't worry -- you may be able to add one using a PCIe adapter card.
Unfortunately, NVMe drives can be expensive comparatively. Thankfully, they are dropping in price all the time. For example, today, Kingston launches an all-new affordable such drive called the "A1000" and it looks quite nice. Unfortunately, it leverages PCIe NVMe Gen 3.0 x2 rather than x4, so it is slower than offerings from some of its competitors. With that said, it is still significantly faster than SATA.
Fedora 28 Beta Linux distro is finally here
Fedora is the best overall Linux-based desktop operating system -- Linus Torvalds famously uses it regularly. Today, version 28 of the distribution finally achieves Beta status. After a short delay -- it was scheduled to be available a week earlier -- the distro is back on track, and looking better than ever.
As is typical now, there are three versions of the operating system -- Atomic Host, Server, and Workstation. While all three have their places, normal desktop computer users will want to focus on Workstation. There are plenty of new features (and bugs), but the most exciting aspect of Fedora 28 Workstation is the inclusion of the GNOME 3.28 desktop environment.
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