Companies overlook risks in open source software
Open source code helps software suppliers to be nimble and build products faster, but a new report reveals hidden software supply chain risks of open source that all software suppliers and IoT manufacturers should know about.
The recent Equifax breach for example exploited a vulnerability in a widely used open source web framework, Apache Struts, and the study by software monetization specialist Flexera points out that as much as 50 percent of code in commercial and IoT software products is open source.
Google Wifi update brings site blocking to parental controls
An update is rolling out to the Google Wifi app which gives parents greater control over the websites their children can visit.
The update adds Site Blocking to Google Wifi's family controls, making it possible to block more than 8 million sites at the flick of a switch. These are sites that Google has determined are inappropriate for children.
FileCloud adds technology to protect customers from ransomware
Just because data is stored in the cloud rather than on in-house servers doesn’t mean that it isn’t vulnerable to cyber attacks.
Enterprise file platform FileCloud has recognized this and is building advanced ransomware protection into its latest release.
Google Maps to lose controversial cupcakes and calorie counting feature in iOS
Google has announced that it is removing a feature from the iOS version of Google Maps that estimated how many calories could be burned off by walking a particular route. Based on "strong user feedback" Google took the decision to remove the feature that had been rolled out to a number of users.
Google faced an online backlash when the feature launched as it used pink mini cupcakes as a measure of calorie burning -- a 2 kilometer walk, Google Maps informed users, would burn 112 calories, or one mini cupcake. The feature was criticized for being a possible trigger for people with eating disorders.
O&O ShutUp10 1.6 adds Fall Creators Update support, UI improvements
The average Windows 10 user will never be aware of the privacy issues associated with the operating system and with every major update, these privacy rights are amended by Microsoft.
With the release of Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, your privacy is actually improving as apps will now require you to opt-in rather than opt-out of storing your location and other information. The downside is that these new privacy rights apply to apps from the Windows Store, so third-party tools will still abide by their own rules, privacy settings and EULA.
Teen image sharing site We Heart It reveals historic security breach affecting over 8 million accounts
We Heart It -- the image sharing service used by at least 40 million teenagers -- suffered a "possible security breach" several years ago. The breach affects more than 8 million accounts that were created between 2008 and November 2013.
Although this is a historic data breach, in which information from the user account database was leaked, We Heart It was only notified about it on October 11. The company says that email addresses, usernames, and encrypted passwords were accessed, and it recommends that users now change their passwords as they are not secure.
Microsoft suffered an internal bug database hack in 2013 and didn't tell anyone
Four and a half years ago, an internal bug-tracking database at Microsoft was breached by a "highly sophisticated hacking group," according to five former employees of the company. The hack of the secret database was never made public.
It is believed that this is only the second time such a corporate database has been breached. US officials were alarmed to learn of the hack which could have exposed software vulnerabilities to the attackers, reports Reuters.
Google launches personalized phishing protection and updated Security Checkup tool
We're in the middle of Cybersecurity Awareness Month and Google is taking part. The company has launched two updated protection tools to help keep internet users safe online.
While Google refers to "two new protections," these are really updates rather than completely new offerings. Both the Security Checkup tool and Google Safe Browsing have been updated to make them more personal, and both of them will adapt over time to protect against new threats.
HP announces 3D metal printing plaform
HP has looked to breathe new life into the 3D printing industry with the announcement of a new metal printing platform.
Announcing the news, HP's president of 3DP business, Stephen Nigro, called the launch a "major step for HP 3D printing aspiration."
Huawei unveils Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro flagship Android 8.0 Oreo smartphones
If you are a fan of Android smartphones, this is surely an exciting time to be alive. While things have been boring for the last few years, 2017 has given us many excellent flagships. There is the Google Pixel 2, Samsung Galaxy Note8, Essential Phone, LG v30, and more. It sounds crazy to say, but there is almost too much choice when it comes to wonderful Android phones!
Today, the market gets a bit more crowded (in a good way), as Huawei officially unveils the 5.9-inch Mate 10 and 6-inch Mate 10 Pro flagship Android smartphones. The company will even sell an elegant Porsche Design variant of the Mate 10 -- for a huge premium of course. Not only are these devices chock-full of top specifications, but they are very beautiful too. All models feature a glass body, a front fingerprint reader, huge 4000 mAh fast-charge battery, and the Android Oreo-based EMUI 8.0 operating system.
Automation will not kill the IT engineer
IT departments need to act to fix a "world of complexity" that is causing difficulties for professionals the world over, a leading expert has warned.
Speaking at the recent IP Expo event in London, Gordon Thomson, Cisco Systems managing director of enterprise networks, warned that as companies grow, so does their IT infrastructure, meaning that many IT departments are facing new challenges that they may never have even considered before.
Facebook taps into teen market with acquisition of anonymous feedback app tbh
Facebook's desperation to appeal to the teenage market is well known, and its latest attempt to tap into it sees the social network acquiring tbh. The anonymous feedback app has proved to be a huge hit on iOS since its launch in August. An Android version is still in the pipeline.
With tbh, despite the anonymity, there's a strong focus on positive polls -- questions like "who has the best smile?" crop up, for instance -- and over a billion pieces of feedback have been given in a matter of weeks. It's not clear whether Facebook will keep the service truly anonymous, or will make use of the data it could undoubtedly gather through the app.
AWS and Microsoft announce deep learning library Gluon
Microsoft and Amazon Web Services have joined forces to make machine learning accessible to a greater number of developers.
With that in mind, the duo has launched an open-source deep learning library called Gluon. The library will work as an interface where developers will be able to create prototypes, build, train and deploy ML models for either cloud or mobile apps.
Google and IBM launch open-source security tool for containers
Google and IBM, together with a few other partners, released an open-source project that gathers metadata that developers can use to secure their software.
According to an IBM blog post, the goal of the project is to help developers keep security standards, while microservices and containers cut the software supply chain.
Google rolls out Chrome Cleanup to help secure its web browser
With so much time now spent online, and with so many cloud-based tools now in use every day, we're all spending more time than ever in our web browsers. To ensure that this is as secure an experience as possible, Google is rolling out a trio of important changes to Chrome -- for Windows users, at least.
At the heart of these changes is Chrome Cleanup. This feature detects unwanted software that might be bundled with downloads, and provides help with removing it -- but Mac and Linux users miss out.
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