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The fact that cybercriminals like to be paid in Bitcoin to unlock encrypted files or sell private information gives the impression that criminals must be major users of cryptocurrency. However, a new report from the European Commission suggests that the reality is very different.

Criminal organizations rarely use cryptocurrency (or, as the European Commission calls it, virtual currency) for illegal activities, like financing terrorism and money laundering, because it requires a certain level of technical expertise that hampers adoption.

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Passwords are increasingly being seen as inadequate for securing systems and developers are seeking better alternatives. A new SaaS platform from Pramati Technologies is aimed at providing strong authentication for mobile and web-based applications using existing device capabilities.

ThumbSignIn enables enterprises and service providers to deploy strong authentication solutions that reduce reliance on passwords and protect against a range of attacks.

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Last summer, industry website Music Business Worldwide ran a story claiming that Spotify was bulking up its platform with 'fake artists' created by producers under untraceable pseudonyms.

Culture publication Vulture brought the story to a wider audience a few days ago, prompting Spotify to finally release a statement vehemently denying the allegations, but here’s where it gets interesting.

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The meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin was always going to generate a great deal of interest. After the two presidents had their first (official) meeting on Friday, Trump tweeted on Sunday that the pair has discussed "forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit."

Considering Trump has accused Russia of hacking the US election, such an arrangement would seem unlikely. Nonetheless, the topic was broached. It was brought up "so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded and safe." But it didn’t take Trump long to back down from the idea.

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Recently, the developer of Paint.NET mentioned that the app would be making its way to the Windows Store. He went as far as saying, "it's at the top of my list" of things to do.

Rick Brewster has now followed up on his "innocent little comment," confirming that the free image editor -- it was originally developed as simple replacement for Windows Paint, but has grown into something much bigger -- will indeed appear in the Windows Store as of version 4.0.17.

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Two of the biggest names in tech have finally added their names to a growing list of participants in a protest next week against the FCC's plans to tear up net neutrality rules.

Google and Facebook have confirmed they will take part in the July 12 protest which is known variously as the "Day of Action," the "Battle for the Net" and -- rather more wordily -- the "Internet-wide Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality." Precisely what form the companies' participation will take remains to be seen, but the involvement of two such big names will send a clear message to the FCC.

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With the launch of Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Build 16237 to the Fast Ring yesterday, Microsoft wheeled in numerous fixes and new features. At the same time, the company also announced that the second Bug Bash for the next big update to Windows 10 is about to take place.

This is the last Bug Bash that will take place before the release of the final version of Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, and it will see an intense period of testing with the help of Windows Insiders. Things kick off on Friday, July 14 and continue for more than a week.

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Criminals behind the recent Petya/NotPetya attack have made a fresh ransom demand as they look to continue their mayhem

A post on online hub DeepPaste said to be from the attackers is demanding 100 bitcoins ($250,000) to decrypt anything that's been affected by the recent attack. Motherboard managed to get in touch with one of the individuals claiming to be from the group. They tried the decryption on a file, and after a two-hour wait, it was successful.

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There has been a significant increase in the amount of cyber-attacks targeting UK’s businesses in the second quarter of 2017, a new report has claimed

Research by business ISP Beaming found that the number of online attacks rose significantly in the three months from April to June. During this time, 65,000 attacks were recorded -- a 52 percent increase compared to Q1 2017.

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It’s a great time to be a Windows Insider at the moment, as the past two Windows 10 builds -- Build 16226 and 16232 -- are jam packed with new features and major improvements.

Build 16237 arrives today in time for the weekend, and like its predecessors, it offers a lot of changes, fixes, and additions.

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In an effort to help managers better understand just how productive their workers are, Microsoft has announced a new product for its enterprise customers called Workplace Analytics that utilizes the data collected by Microsoft Graph to provide valuable insight into how employees spend their workdays.

This new product builds off of the company's MyAnalytics, which was released last year, that gave employees the ability to view their own individual productivity using data collected from their Skype history, calendars, emails and documents.  The difference between this previous tool and Workplace Analytics is that now employers will also be able to view the productivity levels of their employees.

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Summer is finally here, and so far, I have been loving it. While I haven't gone to any fancy beach parties, I have had quite the good time relaxing in my backyard. Nothing beats soaking up the sun while laying in a chaise lounge. As the breeze blows by, I sip my favorite beverage -- Perrier sparkling mineral water.

While this scene sounds great, there is still something missing -- music. While listening to the songs from birds and sounds of lawnmowers can be enjoyable, I prefer to rock out to my favorite tunes. Ranging from 2 Chainz to Wings, I blast my favorite songs -- not so loud as to bother my neighbors, however. This year, the Bluetooth speaker that is serving up my jams is the wonderful JBL Flip 4. It is rugged, waterproof, and most importantly, it sounds phenomenal.

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In what can be described as part political statement, part historical documentation, and part 21st century technology, a new exhibit has opened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California, in which visitors can experience a virtual reality experience of what it is like to cross the border from Mexico to the United States.

The exhibit opened earlier this week, and public tickets are already sold out through the scheduled end of the exhibit, September 10.

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Before unveiling its latest flagship, OnePlus announced that it had partnered with DxO to improve the camera performance of the OnePlus 5. That was interesting mainly for one reason: DxO, on top of making software that enhances photos, frequently puts popular smartphones to the test to assess their photo and video quality.

So, at some point, we would find just what sort of effect that partnership had on the OnePlus 5, using DxO's own metrics. As it turns out, the new flagship still has some way to go before it can challenge the elite.

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Transparency reports about government data requests have become very common from tech companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Google. But while these firms publish reports, their hands are tied when it comes to what they can reveal. Twitter wants to change that.

A federal judge in California ruled in Twitter's favour, dismissing the US government's claim that revealing precise numbers of data requests represented a "clear and present danger." The ruling against the government doesn't change anything in the short term, but it is still an important victory for freedom of speech.

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