Online attacks take a number of forms, and phishing is one of the more recent problems. Chrome has long featured Safe Browsing to notify people when they visit potentially dangerous websites, and today Google announces that the feature is growing to include social engineering.

Google describes social engineering as being a much broader category than traditional phishing. Typical examples include sites that trick visitors into imparting passwords or credit card details, and those which purport to be an official website when they are in fact malicious. The Safe Browsing expansion offers protection against a range of social engineering attacks that Google provides examples of.

Continue reading →

With Windows 10, Microsoft's Windows Insider program proved immensely popular. The chance to try out new features ahead of an official launch gave millions of people an insight into the development process and provided an opportunity to give feedback and influence the future of the operating system.

Today Microsoft is giving Office the same treatment. With the launch of the Office Insider program, Office 365 subscribers are being given the chance to try out upcoming releases of Office 2016.

Continue reading →

Ad blocking tools are rarely out of the news these days. In times of heightened awareness about online privacy, more and more people are turning to things like Adblock Plus to banish ads and clean up their web browsing experience. For many people an ad blocker is seen as essential.

Edward Snowden goes further. The former NSA contractor says that it is a web user's duty to protect their computer by blocking potential attack vectors such as Flash and JavaScript-riddled advertisements.

Continue reading →

Ad-blocking on both desktop and mobile devices is becoming more and more common. But does this mean advertisers are increasingly wasting their time?

A new survey of over 500 consumers by consumer intelligence and predictive marketing company Boxever reveals that 70 percent of consumers surveyed say they're likely or extremely likely to use ad-blocking apps, and another 15 percent said they'd consider it.

Continue reading →

It would appear that mass surveillance of the Internet is here to stay. We can rage against the machine, but ultimately we're powerless to stop the likes of the NSA and GCHQ prying into whatever they want to pry into. More and more people are turning to the dark web to help cover their tracks, but even the supposedly anonymous haven of Tor can be cracked for a price.

Last week in the UK, the draft Investigatory Powers Bill was published outlining proposals for ISPs to retain user's browsing histories for a full year. Governments want to weaken encryption. The FCC ruled that Do Not Track requests are essentially meaningless. The NSA finds and takes advantage of vulnerabilities. It's little wonder that privacy groups are up in arms -- the erosion of online rights continues with terrifying speed. But all is not lost. There are still things you can do to help maintain your privacy. If you're concerned, here's what you can do.

Continue reading →

It has been suggested that more consumers would give Windows Phone a chance if they were given the option to choose between it and Android on the same smartphone. The idea is that they would get to experience all the strengths and weaknesses of the tiled operating system, forming an educated opinion of what they would gain or lose by switching, without having to invest in a new, potentially very expensive, device.

While this is, no doubt, an interesting idea, I had doubts that such a smartphone would see the light of day. However, a German vendor has done it, announcing a smartphone that will ship with both Android and Windows 10 Mobile. Will consumers really be interested in such a dual personality handset?

Continue reading →

Every organization believes that it's making its systems secure, but because they usually work in isolation from competitors and other businesses they have no way of knowing how they compare.

The Building Security In Maturity Model (BSIMM) aims to quantify security practices and present them in a measurable way to allow companies to compare their performance.

Continue reading →

For those who didn't know, the BBC has launched a 24 hour news channel to compete with such entities as CNN and Al Jazeera. Now the issue is making the network available for as many viewers as possible in this crowded market that is today's news cycle.

One of the largest markets is India and the channel is now there, announcing it has signed on to provide its network to YuppTV, the world's largest provider of OTT TV, at least for Indian content. The service provides more than 200 channels and 5,000 movies to viewers.

Continue reading →

How much risk are you facing just by visiting a website? Do you know what scripts are running and which other sites they're pulling data from?

Malware prevention company Menlo Security scanned the Alexa top 50 UK websites to find out what their users were being exposed to. The findings show that on average, when visiting a top 50 UK site, your browser will execute 19 scripts.

Continue reading →

Google, like many other companies, is pushing people towards using secure internet connections. HTTPS is becoming the norm, but not everyone has caught on. To keep the security-conscious informed, Gmail is set to issue warnings about emails that are received through unsecure connections that do not use encryption.

A joint study involving Google, University of Michigan and the University of Illinois found that email is "more secure today than it was two years ago", with an increase in the number of encrypted emails sent. That said, there are still plenty of people who are not using secure connections and Google is keen to keep its users informed when they receive communication through unencrypted channels.

Continue reading →

Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 tablet is now available to buy in the UK through the Microsoft Store, as well as Amazon, Argos, Dixons Travel, John Lewis, Harrods, PC World / Currys, Selfridges, Staples and Very.co.uk.

The Surface Pro 4 has packed more power and performance into the thinnest Surface yet, featuring Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processors, up to 1TB of storage and a 12.3-inch PixelSense display with a 2,736 x 1,824 pixel resolution.

Continue reading →

Emsisoft has announced the release of Emsisoft Anti-Malware 11 and Emsisoft Internet Security 11. Scanning has improved with better detection of ransomware, file-less malware, and threats which try to exploit script parsers and other host processes.

The products are smarter, too, and are now able to block many intrusion and exploitation attempts without annoying alerts.

Continue reading →

Moving from Android to iOS was one of the best decisions of my tech-life. There has never been a day where I regretted my choice. With that said, I did like the ability to use micro SD on some Android devices to move files to and from the devices to my home computer. This hasn't been a huge pain point, however, thanks to my love affair with Dropbox.

If you own an iPad or iPhone, you may have wanted the ability to transfer files without the need of the cloud. Well, guess what? You actually can. While Lightning connector-based flash drives are not new, Silicon Power today announces a very elegant solution -- the xDrive Z30 Lightning Dual Flash Drive for Apple Devices.

Continue reading →

At a time when the speed of application development is vital to commercial success, the DevOps methodology -- based on communication, collaboration, integration and automation -- has become one of the biggest IT moves around.

However, it’s more than just a business philosophy; to do it right requires genuine infrastructure investment and development.

Continue reading →

It is being predicted that the ever-growing market of the Internet of Things will support total services spending of $235 billion (£155bn) in 2016. At the same time, the number of connected devices will grow 30 percent year-on-year, reaching 6.4 billion units globally.

But the growth won’t stop there. As a matter of fact, it will speed up, reaching 20.8 billion units by 2020. According to a Gartner report, the professional category will dominate. In it, businesses contract with external providers in order to design, install and operate IoT systems.

Continue reading →