Google forces YouTube Music on Android users
I am a big fan of YouTube. Not only do I watch videos on the site daily, I am also a paid subscriber to YouTube TV -- I love the service and happily part with my $50 each month. YouTube Music, however, is an entirely different story -- I kind of hate it. When testing it against Spotify and Apple Music, YouTube Music failed miserably. The user interface is just unnecessarily confusing. Quite frankly, I am not sure how Google got it so wrong. Sigh.
That's why I was rather bummed out by the news that Google will be pre-loading the YouTube Music app on all Android 10 devices, plus some new ones that will ship with Android 9. Yep, it will be foisted upon many unsuspecting customers. This includes buyers of Google's own devices, such as the upcoming Pixel 4.
Think you can spot a phishing email? Think again
People may not be as good as they think they are at spotting phishing scams, according to researchers at the Missouri University of Science and Technology.
Dr Casey Canfield, Missouri S&T assistant professor of engineering management and systems engineering, worked with Carnegie Mellon University colleagues Baruch Fischhoff and Alex Davis on the study, which measures how well people’s confidence in their ability to detect phishing matches with reality.
Ubuntu Linux 19.10 'Eoan Ermine' Beta available for download
Happy Friday, dear BetaNews readers! The weekend is nearly here, meaning you can take some time to do the things you want to do, rather than the tasks your boss assigns. For some, that means spending time with family, watching movies, or simply catching up on some rest. For others, it is the prime time to test a Linux distribution!
Today, Canonical releases the official beta for the upcoming Ubuntu Linux 19.10. Code-named "Eoan Ermine," it features Linux kernel 5.3. There are several great desktop environments from which to choose too, such as KDE Plasma, Budgie, and the default GNOME. Ubuntu 19.10 is not a long term support (LTS) version, sadly, so support for the stable release will only be a mere 9 months.
One year on from the Facebook data breach -- what has changed? [Q&A]
One year ago this week Facebook suffered a massive data breach that prompted the company to reset access for around 90 million accounts.
A year on from this event what has been done to make users' data more secure and are people becoming more aware of the risks to their privacy from using social networks and other sites? We spoke to Fouad Khalil VP of compliance at SecurityScorecard to discuss these things and more.
Google turns 21: How two Stanford University whiz kids accidentally built a tech empire
Google is everywhere. It's behind the world's most popular mobile operating system and map, one of the most successful email services ever, and has even expanded into the finance, wearables and transport sectors. What's more, it probably still serves as your browser home page (or just a means of finding out whether you're connected to the Internet or not).
The still-relatively-young company, which turns 21 today, has come a hell of a long way since its inception in the late 90s, and looks well capable of dominating each and every avenue it decides to enter. However, the company had very humble, and indeed slightly odd, beginnings.
Windows 10 version 1903 is now ready for broad deployment
Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 version 1903 (Windows 10 May 2019 Update) has been designated "ready for broad deployment". This means that all Windows 10 users can now download the update from Windows Update.
Despite the change in status, there are still a handful of issues with the release, some of which are still being investigated, and others which have only been mitigated against rather than fixed.
Game audio problems in Windows 10? Microsoft has a fix for that
There's no denying that recent updates for Windows 10 have caused more problems than usual. In the last few weeks, updates have led variously to issues with the Start menu, screenshots, high CPU usage and more.
Gamers found that the KB4515384 update for Windows 10 version 1903 was causing problems with in-game audio. The company was fairly swift to suggest some workarounds, but it is only now that a proper fix has been released to address the issue.
DoorDash hacked!
Food delivery services are all the rage these days. Apparently, people are so averse to leaving their home, that they are willing to pay a premium to get meals driven to them. But wait, is that really a new trend? Pizzerias, for instance, have been delivering pies for years. Yeah, but that was driven by an employee of the restaurant. These days, services like Grubhub and DoorDash allow pretty much anyone with a car to be the go-between -- there is no vetting by the restaurant. Do you really want your food in the hands of a stranger? Lord knows what he/she could do to it.
If you are a DoorDash user, the suitability of your delivery driver is not what you need to be worried about today. Actually, your concern should be focused on your privacy, as the delivery service has suffered a massive data breach. Yes, hackers have infiltrated DoorDash, and the number of impacted people is staggering -- nearly 5 million. That doesn't just include customers but DoorDash drivers and merchants too!
Microsoft turns to Google to help its struggling Xbox One
Long gone are the days where playing video games on a console was a simple affair. You used to just plug in a cartridge, turn the game system on, and begin playing. These days, consoles are constantly making you install both game and system updates, making the "pick up and play" concept a thing of the past. Not to mention, since they often double as media players, the interfaces are clunky and confusing. I really miss the 80's and 90's in this regard.
Thankfully, voice assistants are seemingly making the game console experience a little simpler. By allowing you to use your voice, you can potentially avoid the confusing interfaces. Today, Microsoft announces that Google Assistant support is now available for Xbox One -- in beta, at least. The search giant's offering joins both Microsoft's Cortana and Amazon's Alexa. It is doubtful that this move will help the Xbox One's struggles against the more popular PlayStation 4.
Poor incident response costs business time and money
Inefficient incident response to email attacks is costing businesses billions in losses every year. For many organizations, finding, identifying and removing email threats is a slow and manual process that takes too long and uses too many resources.
Research from Barracuda Networks finds that that, on average, a business takes three and a half hours to remediate an attack, and 11 percent of organizations spend more than six hours on investigation and remediation.
New tool gives businesses greater control and visibility of customer data
Consumers are becoming more aware of how valuable their personal data is to businesses, in return for this information they expect customized, relevant online experiences.
From the business side this means ensuring that data is held in line with the law, internal policies and customer preferences. Data infrastructure company Segment is launching a new tool to help businesses with this privacy management.
Modified PcShare backdoor replaces Windows Narrator to gain full control of systems
Security researchers have discovered a modified version of the open source backdoor PcShare which seems to originate from a Chinese advanced persistent threat (APT) group.
The malware has been used to target technology firms, and it is deployed via side-loading by a legitimate NVIDIA application. As part of the attack, a Trojanized version of Windows' Narrator screen reading tool is used to gain remote access to systems without the need for credentials.
Cybercriminals target Thomas Cook customers in the wake of the company's collapse
The collapse of travel firm Thomas Cook has caused chaos for hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers around the world. But if losing out on planned trips was not bad enough, cybercriminals are taking advantage of the confused situation to scam customers out of their money.
There have been numerous reports of fraudsters pretending to be representatives of either Thomas Cook or a bank, using the promise of a refund to get people to part with bank account details.
Two thirds of consumers don't think government encryption backdoors will protect them from terrorists
A new survey by machine identity protection company Venafi shows consumers don't trust major cyber security policies pushed by their governments.
Government officials in nearly every country believe the security risks inherent in government-mandated encryption backdoors are less important than giving law enforcement broad access to encrypted personal data. However, US and European consumers overwhelmingly disagree. When asked if laws allowing governments to access encrypted personal and private data would make them safer from terrorists 64 percent don’t agree.
Google Chrome update to blame for unbootable Macs
Earlier in the week, Variety reported about a mysterious problem with Macs in Hollywood. As the issues -- which prevented systems from rebooting -- affected television and film editors in LA, it was initially thought that the Avid Media Composer software was at fault.
But in fact, it was Google that was to blame. A buggy update for the company's Chrome browser caused issues for a number of Mac users whose systems met certain conditions. Google has published details of a workaround for those hit by the problem which saw the Chrome update damaging the macOS file system.
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