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The US government has joined the government of the UK in pointing the finger of blame at Russia for the NotPetya cyberattacks. The ransomware/destructoware hit computers around the world last June.

After speculation that the attack was a state-sponsored one carried out by Russia, this position has now been confirmed as the White House accused the nation of the "reckless and indiscriminate." At the same time, the UK's National Cyber Security Centre said that the Russian military was "almost certainly" responsible for the attack.

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Samsung makes excellent products -- it cannot be denied. While the company is probably best known for its wildly popular Android smartphones, the Galaxy-maker is much more than that. You can pretty much outfit your entire home with Samsung appliances and electronics -- televisions, Blu-ray players, refrigerators, washing machines, and more.

Where Samsung doesn't shine as brightly is with computers. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying the company makes bad Windows 10 laptops and Chromebooks -- quite the contrary -- but consumers are probably more likely to think of companies like Dell, Lenovo, and Acer for this market. Samsung has seemingly been trying to change this, however, as it has been pumping out some beautiful machines. Today, the company announces that its anticipated trio of Windows 10 laptops -- the Notebook 9 Pen, the Notebook 9 (2018), and Notebook 7 Spin (2018) -- will finally hit stores on February 18.

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The US Department of Defense has decreed that the Air Force must complete its migration to Windows 10 by March 31 2018.

Failure to do so will result in any systems not running Microsoft’s latest operating system being denied access to the Air Force Network. However, because Windows 10 is not compatible with many of the Air Force’s existing systems, a significant number of computers will need to be replaced in order to hit the deadline.

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Nearly every company deploys network monitoring tools which enable the IT team to keep a constant eye on remote servers. Downtime costs money.

Of course, network monitoring isn’t limited to remote servers. It can be used to manage your local network and that’s why a tool such as O&O Software’s O&O Syspectr can come in handy. You can use this tool to remotely manage PCs on your network, automatically deploy software updates, check drives for potential issues, remotely shut down and check for unauthorized access.

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While Android ransomware is still growing, it's doing so at a slower rate than at its peak in 2016. However, it is using sneaky new techniques to trick users.

New findings from researchers at ESET reveal techniques like the misuse of Android's Accessibility services being used to infect devices. The most popular attack technique though remains screen-locking followed by a ransom demand. The most frequently detected variant being the Android/Locker family.

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It's only a week since Samsung started to roll out Android 8.0 Oreo to the Galaxy S8 and S8+, and now the company has paused the update.

A "limited number" of handsets receiving the update have been experiencing reboot problems after installing Oreo. While Samsung investigates the matter, the rollout has been paused and a new version of the update is being worked on.

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More than 20,000 new vulnerabilities were cataloged in 2017 according to breach analysis specialist Risk Based Security.

The figures from the company's own VulnDB eclipsed the total covered by MITRE's Common Vulnerability Enumeration (CVE) and the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) by more than 7,900.

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While US government agencies are continuing to improve their security performance over time, the contractors they employ are failing to meet the same standards according to a new report.

The study by security rankings specialist BitSight sampled over 1,200 federal contractors and finds that the security rating for federal agencies was 15 or more points higher than the mean of any contractor sector.

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Nowadays, much is made of mechanical keyboards. While I swear by them, understandably, not everyone likes that style. Some people prefer a nice soft membrane typing experience. Neither preference is wrong -- it comes down to the individual. For an office setting where many people work in earshot of each other, however, membrane can be preferable as it is typically a quieter experience. Even non-clicky mechanical switch types can be audible.

Today, Logitech unveils a new keyboard and mouse combo that should appeal to membrane lovers. Designed for both home and office, the MK540 Advanced Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo, as it is called, is affordable, well-designed, and offers insane battery life. If you are left-handed, you will appreciate the ambidextrous design of the mouse too.

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Facebook and privacy are not words that really belong in the same sentence, so the idea that the social network is offering a VPN tool might well raise your suspicions. Back in 2013, Facebook acquired Onavo, the company behind the VPN tool Protect.

Recently, users of the Facebook iOS app noticed a link to something labelled Protect within settings. While this appears to be a built-in setting, it is in fact just a link to the Onavo Protect VPN app -- and the idea of a Facebook-owned VPN tool being promoted from within the Facebook app has people concerned. Take a look at the app description, and you may well understand why.

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The cryptocurrency market seems to have recovered after a massive correction took it below $280 billion earlier this month. That valuation brought the scene back to mid-November levels, with all the majors posting significant losses as a result. However, things have changed rather quickly, as, today, the market is getting closer to breaking $480 billion.

Bitcoin looks to be spearheading the push, as it's testing the $10,000 level, having the third-largest daily increase of the top 10 players at 8.9 percent. Litecoin is the best performer, by far, with gains of 19.5 percent, followed by IOTA with 9.1 percent. In the days following the crash, Litecoin consistently posted solid gains.

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As one of the major players in online advertising it might seem surprising that Google is introducing its own ad filtering feature to Chrome.

Partly though this is a fight back against the increasing use of ad blockers that block Google’s own ads and is aimed at the most annoying ad types like pop ups and autoplay videos. Internet marketing company TechWyse has put together an infographic explaining the thinking behind Google’s decision.

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Intel has updated its bug bounty program, offering up to $250,000 to anyone identifying vulnerabilities in its hardware and software. The key update here is that the program is now open to everyone through the HackerOne platform -- it was previously open to selected security researchers on an invite-only basis.

The move comes in the wake of the Meltdown and Spectre chip vulnerability revelations, and it's clearly an attempt by Intel to not only ramp up its security, but to be seen doing so. The company says it wants to create "a process whereby the security research community can inform us, directly and in a timely fashion, about potential exploits that its members discover."

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GDPR is only a few months away, and a lot of the coverage has focused on the impact the regulation will have on the IT and finance departments in businesses. Whilst it’s true that GDPR compliance should be driven largely by finance and IT departments, there’s more to it than that.

One area where there’s little clarity is whether businesses are required to hire more staff. The Data Protection Officer (DPO) role is covered in the regulation document, but many argue it’s unclear whether this is necessary for their business; Privacy International comments that the bill is "unnecessarily complex".

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As someone that typically loves Apple products, I was initially interested in HomePod. After all, it is gorgeous and designed for use with Apple Music -- my choice for a streaming music service. Once common sense set in, however, I realized it was not something I wanted. Why? Well, the $350 asking price is just too high compared to competitors. I'd actually be willing to pay a premium for a quality product, but Siri just cant compare to Alexa at this time. And so, I passed on HomePod.

And thank God that I did. You see, there have been reports from people that HomePod was ruining wood furniture. Consumers were claiming that both the white and grey versions of the cylindrical speaker were leaving white rings on some wood surfaces. Sadly, this was not a hoax or rumor, as Apple has now acknowledged it is aware of the "problem." The company will be issuing a recall, right? Oh no -- that would make too much sense. Instead, Apple hilariously states this is totally normal ("not unusual")!

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