Microsoft's Meltdown patch for Windows 10 has a 'fatal flaw'
If you've not updated to Windows 10 April 2018 Update but you have installed Microsoft's Meltdown patches from a few months ago, your computer is vulnerable to a "fatal flaw".
This is not the first time a patch for the Meltdown vulnerability has led to problems with Windows, but previously it was Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 that were affected. A security researcher found that Microsoft's patch for Windows 10 "undermined the mitigation", and while the problem has been fixed in the April 2018, the company is still working on backporting an updated patch for older versions of Windows 10.
OnePlus 6 specs leak ahead of the launch later this month
The OnePlus 6 is due to be revealed on May 16 and, as with just about every OnePlus device, details of the latest flagship have leaked out nice and early.
There have already been a number of rumors relating to the OnePlus 6 -- such as confirmation of the notch -- but now full specifications have appeared on the website of Chinese regulator TENAA. So what can you expect from the A6000, and will it be enough to warrant an upgrade from a OnePlus 5 or OnePlus 5T?
The rise of the experimentation team
2017 was the year of DevOps with companies focusing on delivering better customer experience and improving operational efficiency. According to a recent Forrester report, over 60 percent of organizations surveyed said they have either already implemented or are expanding their DevOps efforts in the future. With the rise of DevOps, greater investments in software development and a faster release cadence comes a need to measure the impact of these efforts and ensure they are delivering valuable software faster. To do this, organizations are taking a more modern approach to code deployment, release management, and measurement of outcomes.
This approach known as experimentation is a new product development workflow, combining DevOps and Product Analytics, helping organizations both speed up product delivery while simultaneously providing critical insights on the performance of their features and products. Every feature release is measured against business and technical KPIs defined by the organization. Experimentation teams, historically only formed at leading technology companies, are now emerging in most enterprises who are starting to look for and build out engineering and product experimentation roles.
Google makes VR positional-tracking tool 'Seurat' open source on GitHub
Technology companies have been telling us virtual reality will change the world for decades now. While VR has become more popular in recent years, it is still a niche market. Virtual reality will probably become mainstream in the future, but until prices come down even further, it will remain a hobby for enthusiasts.
With that said, Google is still banking on virtual reality, especially with its Daydream initiative. Today, the search giant is making a VR positional-tracking tool called "Seurat" open source. The code is being hosted on GitHub.
KaOS KDE-focused rolling Linux distro celebrates 5th birthday with updated ISO
When a person celebrates a birthday, they often receive gifts, eat cake, and spend time with friends and family. After all, it is intended to be a happy occasion as the person marks another year of life.
But what the heck does a Linux distribution do to celebrate a birthday? In the case of the excellent KaOS operating system, the answer is simple -- release an updated ISO. Yes, as a way to mark the 5th birthday of the KDE-focused distro, version 2018.04 is now available for download. You get Plasma 5.12.4, Linux kernel 4.15.7, Libreoffice 6.0.3, and more.
Spybot -- Search & Destroy 2.7 adds new Start Center screen, improves malware search
Irish security developer Safer Networking has released Spybot -- Search & Destroy 2.7, a new version of its Windows free and paid-for anti-malware tool.
The major new feature in this release is the addition of an additional Start Center screen giving users access to frequently used functions. It also promises a number of improvements -- including Secure Boot support -- and better reliability.
The challenges of adopting the Industrial Internet of Things [Q&A]
A future enabled by the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is not so far off, with the integration of IoT devices rising across industrial settings from oil and gas to building security.
The potential to leverage big data and analytics to optimize operations and efficiencies is driving industrial companies to move to IIoT-enabled devices, but these companies are now faced with the challenge of modernizing their legacy production systems.
Microsoft is working on a fix for Chrome and Cortana freezes in Windows 10 April 2018 Update
Microsoft launched Windows 10 April 2018 Update this week, and if you rushed to install it you may well have noticed one or two issues. There have been complaints that various apps have been problematic since the update, but Chrome and Cortana seem to be causing the most problems.
Microsoft has confirmed that it is aware of issues with Chrome and "Hey Cortana" that can lead to Windows 10 April 2018 Update freezing. A patch is currently being worked on and should be released next week, but the company has a couple of suggestions for fixes you can try in the meantime.
Twitter warns all users to change passwords after 'bug' left credentials stored in plaintext
Twitter has issued a warning to its 330 million users, urging them to change their passwords. The security announcement comes after the company discovered a bug that left passwords stored in unencrypted form in internal logs.
While Twitter says that the bug has been fixed and that the plaintext logs have been deleted, it is encouraging the password change out of "an abundance of caution".
Get 'Preventing Digital Extortion' ($25 value) FREE for a limited time
More and more cyber threats keep emerging every day, affecting organizations across the board, targeting the entire spectrum of the Internet. Digital or cyber-extortion has come across as the most serious of such threats as it seeks to profit from criminal activity, akin to blackmail.
Preventing Digital Extortion from Packt Publishing will teach you the art of preventing digital extortion and securing confidential data.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 Redstone 5 Build 17661 for Insiders on the Fast and Skip Ahead rings
Now that the Windows 10 April 2018 Update is done and rolling out to users, Microsoft can focus all of its energy on the next big feature update. Insiders who haven’t yet opted out of the program will, from today, start receiving updates from the Redstone 5 branch.
The first of these updates to be rolled out to Insiders on the Fast ring, as well as Skip Ahead, is Build 17661, and this introduces a number of big changes.
73 percent of industrial networks are vulnerable to hackers
The industrial control systems (ICS) used to run equipment in manufacturing, energy, and other sectors are secured differently from office networks. Vulnerabilities often go unpatched, because organizations are afraid to make changes that might cause downtime.
To minimize the chances of exploitation of vulnerabilities, measures put in place include placing ICS components on a separate network, isolating them, or air-gapping them entirely from Internet-connected corporate systems. However, penetration testing performed by Positive Technologies has shown that such measures often fall short in practice, leaving attackers plenty of opportunity to access critical equipment.
The poor password habits of IT professionals
It's World Password Day and we've already looked at tips for safe password use, but a new survey from identity management company SailPoint reveals that IT professionals aren't practising what they preach when it comes to password use.
In partnership with research company Vanson Bourne, SailPoint surveyed 400 IT decision makers about their password habits and came up with some worrying results.
Ransomware attacks up 400 percent in 2017 mainly due to WannaCry
Ransomware attacks grew by 400 percent last year, largely down to the success of the WannaCry attack. It’s perhaps not surprising that other variants slowed down, but this signals a shift in the way ransomware is being used.
A new report from F-Secure shows WannaCry accounted for nine out of every 10 ransomware detection reports by the end of the year.
How to rollback and uninstall the Windows 10 April 2018 Update
The Windows 10 April 2018 Update is rolling out to users. If you install it and encounter major problems, as some users doubtless will, you might want to go back to your previous version, and wait until the update is a bit less buggy.
If you've been using Windows 10 for a while you’ll probably know how to do this, although the process may be slightly different to what you've been used to.
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