Encryption backdoors raise the likelihood of attack

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Countries with government-mandated encryption backdoors are more susceptible to nation-state attacks according to 73 percent of security professionals.

A survey from machine identity protection company Venafi also finds 69 percent believe countries with encryption backdoors suffer economic disadvantages in the global marketplace as a result.

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Facebook explicitly bans white nationalism and white separatism

Facebook hate speech

The "praise, support and representation" of both white nationalism and white separatism are to be explicitly banned on Facebook and Instagram. The new policies will be enforced as of next week.

Facebook announced the change in policy as it and other social networks face increasing pressure to do more to counter hate speech. It also comes in the wake of the Christchurch, New Zealand mosque shooting, footage of which was shared on the platform.

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See the Samsung Galaxy Fold hinge in action in an official stress-test video

Samsung Galaxy Fold stress test

Aside from 5G, it seems that the next big movement in the world of smartphones is going to be folding devices. Both Samsung and Huawei have announced foldables in recent weeks, with each adopting different designs.

As smartphones with folding screens are a new category of device, users understandably have questions about them. What are they like to use? Is the crease visible? Will the screen hold up to continued folding and unfolding? In a new video, Samsung shows how its Galaxy Fold is stress-tested to ensure that it can withstand 200,000 openings and closings.

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Nearly three quarters of Windows 10 users still don’t have the October 2018 Update

The October 2018 Update, or Windows 10 1809, has been nothing short of a disaster for Microsoft. It was so buggy it had to be pulled shortly after its release last October, and it only began to be pushed out as an automatic update a week ago.

AdDuplex, which monitors the share of each version of Windows 10, has been reporting for months on the incredibly poor adoption of Windows 10 1809, and March was another month in which the update gained hardly any additional share. With the next big feature version scheduled to arrive next month, it looks as if most people will be skipping the older update.

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Microsoft releases Windows 10 20H1 Build 18865 to the Skip Ahead ring

If you opted to join the Skip Ahead ring, bypassing the 19H1 builds, you are currently being served up flights from the 20H1 branch -- the feature update that Microsoft is set to release a year from now.

Today the software giant rolls out Build 18865 which fixes numerous problems, including multiple issues affecting Narrator.

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Privacy for the win! Startpage.com defeats Google and Bing to become best search engine

Google may be the world's most popular search engine, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is the best. Don't forget, Google is notorious for tracking users and logging search activity. Not to mention, there are many other search engines out there, such as Microsoft's Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo to name a few.

Believe it or not, a lesser-known search engine, Startpage.com, has defeated Google (and all others) to become the search champion! You see, following an in-depth investigation, German organization "Stiftung Warentest" has declared the search engine to be the best. Not familiar with that organization? Please know, it is similar to Consumer Reports in the USA. So yeah, this is a big deal. And yes, Startpage.com also defeated fellow privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo.

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BitTorrent Inc announces BitTorrent Live, a social streaming platform that's not based on BitTorrent

BitTorrent Live

BitTorrent Inc has announced plans to launch a new social media platform for live streaming. It will be called BitTorrent Live and -- at least initially -- it will be centralized rather than decentralized, meaning that it is not based on the BitTorrent protocol or other P2P technology.

The first beta version is expected to launch in the coming quarter, and it will compete with the likes of Facebook Live. BitTorrent Live will enable users to stream content to mobile devices, or broadcast live, and will include social media elements.

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More than half of internet users think complete digital privacy is impossible

Privacy

According to a report from Kaspersky Lab, 56 percent of internet users feel that complete privacy in the modern digital world is impossible.

For many people, their worries about digital privacy may come from personal experience. Kaspersky's research finds that 26 percent of people have had their private data accessed by someone without their consent, rising to almost a third (31 percent) among 16- to 24-year-olds.

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Data breaches more common than rain in the UK

umbrella

The UK has something of a reputation for its wet climate, and its citizens for constantly talking about the weather. So it may come as a surprise to find that in the UK the chance of experiencing a data breach is higher than that of encountering a rainy day.

A survey by technology services company Probrand shows 43 percent of UK businesses having suffered a cyber breach or attack in the last 12 months as against just 36.4 percent chance on average of encountering a wet day.

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Almost half of industrial computers hit by malicious cyber activity in 2018

Industrial computer system

Kaspersky has released the results of an astonishing study that found that almost half of world's Industrial Control System (ICS) computers was subjected to malicious cyber activity last year.

While malware and cyber attacks have been a problem for some time, there is particular concern about the rising numbers of ICS computers being affected. In the case of downtime for such systems, there is the risk of material losses and production downtime at industrial facilities.

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Vivaldi 2.4 expands customizability, introduces support for multiple user profiles

Opera R3 may be on the horizon, but the company’s ex-founder Jon von Tetzchner continues to reinvent the web browser for real with Vivaldi 2.4 for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Version 2.4’s main highlight is widened customization support for its toolbars in the form of being able to drag and drop selected buttons between Address and Status bars. Version 2.4 also introduces multi-user profile support to the GUI, improves its bookmark management tools and adds a calculator to the Quick Command tool.

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Need for data portability is driving cloud strategies

Cloud server

The rise in container use and demands for data portability are driving decisions on cloud adoption according to a new report.

Workload automation specialist Turbonomic surveyed over 800 IT professionals to examines the underlying dynamics fueling cloud-native/container and multicloud adoption.

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Digital cold war and other emerging threats we'll face in the next two years

data threat

A new report from the Information Security Forum looks at the threats organizations can expect to face over the next two years as a result of increasing developments in technology.

The Threat Horizon 2021 report highlights three major themes that will present particularly difficult cyber security challenges for businesses.

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Roku is giving away a 65-inch 4K UHD Hisense TV, but there's a catch

If you need a streaming media box, Roku is an excellent choice. Even if your television is a "smart" variant, it is still wise to add a Roku media box to it. Why? Despite redundant functionality, the apps built into smart TVs are often terrible. Look, you want to enjoy yourself while watching videos or listening to music, right? There is no time to fiddle around with a deficient experience. Not to mention, a Roku box is extremely affordable -- you will be glad you bought it.

But what if you don't already have a television? In that case, you should consider a Roku TV -- a television set with a Roku built in. In other words, it is a smart TV that is actually, you know, smart. Can't afford a new television? No worries -- Roku is giving one away. And no, the prize is not a third-rate TV with lesser specs. Actually, it is a 65-inch 4K model from Hisense.

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Leaked Chromium-based Microsoft Edge works great on Windows 7

Back in December 2018, Microsoft announced that it would be moving its Edge browser over to Chromium, with the intent being to align its web platform with both the main web standards and other Chromium-based browsers. Microsoft also said at the time that Edge would be made available for "all supported versions of Windows", not just Windows 10.

Last week, an early version of the browser leaked onto the web, and while most people who tried it would no doubt have done so through Windows 10, it does indeed run on Windows 7 (and Windows 8.1).

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