Google adds privacy-focused DuckDuckGo search engine to Chrome
Update to Chrome 73 and you might be in for a bit of a shock. With absolutely no fanfare whatsoever, Google has added DuckDuckGo to the list of search engines available in its web browser.
In fact, the company has updated the default list of search engines it offers in over 60 markets, but it is the addition of privacy-focused DuckDuckGo that comes as the most welcome surprise.
Gearbest security flaw leaks millions of order and user details
A badly configured server at Gearbest, the Chinese purveyor of technology and other stuff online, has leaked millions of user profiles and order details.
White hat hacker Noam Rotem discovered an Elasticsearch server that was -- indeed still is at the time of writing -- leaking millions of records each week. These include customer data, orders, and payment records. The server wasn't protected with a password, potentially allowing anyone to search its data.
Businesses plan to use more AI and machine learning in cybersecurity this year -- even though they don't understand it
The use of more artificial intelligence to improve security has been touted for a while. New research from Webroot reveals that a majority of business are now actively exploring the technology.
It finds 71 percent of businesses surveyed in the United States plan to use more artificial intelligence and machine learning in their cybersecurity tools this year. However, a worrying 58 percent say that aren't sure what that technology really does.
Analysis of Remote Access Trojans helps understand third-party business risk
Remote Access Trojans (RATs) are often used to steal information from enterprise networks. By looking at network metadata, analysts at threat intelligence firm Recorded Future have been able to identify RAT command-and-control (C2) servers, and more crucially, which corporate networks are communicating to those controllers.
This offers insight about third-party organizations that Recorded Future clients can use to get a better understanding of potential third-party risk to their own data.
What is a zombie (comatose) server, and why should I care?
Whatis.com states that "a zombie server is a physical server that is running but has no external communications or visibility and contributes no compute resources, that it consumes electricity but is serving no useful purpose."
In a time when a server was dedicated to running a particular application or performing a specific function such as the late 1990s or early 2000s, this definition of a "zombie" made sense. Generally speaking, zombie servers happened because they were forgotten, or never configured for the purpose for which they had been acquired (a dirty secret of the IT industry). In many cases, once plugged in, the server operating systems never allowed these servers to enter their sleep state, for fear that they would be too slow to respond. Identifying these systems as zombies was relatively easy -- their power consumption was constant (a flat line).
Western Digital releases affordable WD Blue SN500 NVMe SSD
Last month, I reviewed the HUAWEI MateBook 13 -- an excellent Windows 10 laptop. I was impressed with many aspects of that computer, including the very speedy Western Digital NVMe solid state drive. I’m usually a Samsung man when it comes to SSDs -- after all, its drives are always superb. But thanks to the respectable performance of the drive found in the aforementioned laptop, I am now intrigued by Western Digital SSDs too.
Back in January, Western Digital announced the WD Black SN750 -- an NVMe SSD for enthusiasts. Today, the company releases a budget-focused NVMe SSD aimed at upgraders that don’t necessarily need the absolute fastest storage drive. Called "WD Blue SN500", the 2-lane drive is significantly faster than an SATA SSD, but slower than performance-focused NVMe drives. Most importantly, the M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 x2 drive is very affordable, regardless of which capacity you choose.
GNOME 3.32 'Taipei' is finally here! The best Linux desktop environment gets even better
Whether or not a desktop environment is "best" is subjective. In other words, not all people prefer the same DE. Some folks like GNOME, others are KDE Plasma fans, and some Linux users choose something else. With that said, GNOME is the best. It is not debatable -- please accept this fact. GNOME simply offers the most sensical user interface while also being beautiful. Look, when Canonical killed the much-maligned Unity, what DE was chosen as the new default DE for Ubuntu? Exactly -- GNOME. Hell, GNOME bests both macOS and Windows 10 too.
Today, the best gets even better as GNOME 3.32 "Taipei" is finally here! The DE finally gets one of the most desired features -- fractional scaling. While technically just experimental for now, it will allow users to better scale their desktops when using a HiDPI monitor. Speaking of appearances, GNOME finally gets refreshed icons, and yes, that matters. They look amazing and modern. Also cool? The on-screen keyboard has an emoji picker! User images are now all circular too, lending to a more cohesive and consistent feel. The excellent GNOME Software is getting an update too, with more transparent details about app permissions.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 20H1 Build 18855 to the Skip Ahead ring
Yesterday, Microsoft rolled out Windows 10 Build 18356 for Insiders on the 19H1 branch and today it follows it up with a new 20H1 build for those testers in the Skip Ahead ring.
As a reminder, builds from the 20H1 branch are for the version of Windows 10 due out in a year’s time.
Brits are more scared of spiders than cybercrime
Cybercrime and hacking has overtaken flying, dogs and clowns in the top 10 list of things the British are most scared of, but still only ranks in sixth place behind spiders, heights, snakes, dentists and small spaces.
Arachnids top the list despite there being less than a one-in-a-million chance of being bitten by a spider badly enough to warrant going to hospital in the UK.
Stricter payment requirements in Europe could drive fraud elsewhere
From September this year the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) comes into force across the EU. This will require payment service providers to offer strong customer authentication (SCA) and third-party access to bank accounts or risk losing their their payment provider license.
But a new report today from fraud prevention company iovation suggests that stricter requirements for fraud prevention in Europe will drive fraud to other regions such as the US.
Researchers find two Android malware campaigns with over 250 million downloads
Check Point Research has uncovered two massive mobile adware and data stealing campaigns, which have already had a combined total of over 250 million downloads globally.
Both target mobiles using Android, and exploit the mobile app development supply chain to infect devices and perform malicious actions.
New platform helps enterprises to deploy and manage microservices networking
More and more organizations are moving to a cloud-native, microservices architecture. But doing this at scale can be challenging as businesses lose the ability to trace, debug, and ultimately manage rapidly proliferating services.
New company Tetrate is aiming to shake up the microservices networking market by combining the best of open source technologies with enterprise-grade extensibility, scalability, and performance.
CCleaner 5.55 adds a software updater (but only in Professional)
Install software on your computer and you’ll be forgiven for not having the spare time to search for updates. Most applications do not have a software update facility, so unless you go checking, you’ll often never know it’s been updated.
With this in mind, and software developers running out of key ideas to add to future revisions to encourage paid upgrades, we’re seeing 'Software Updater' tools being released to the market or added to system maintenance applications. IObit recently released a standalone Software Updater tool this year which we wrote about this month.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 19H1 Build 18356 to the Fast ring
It’s Tuesday, which usually signals the arrival of a new Windows 10 build for Insiders, and right on cue here comes Build 18356 for the Fast ring.
With the next big feature update expected to begin its rollout next month, the focus here is naturally on fixing problems, but Android-owning Insiders can also look forward to using the You Phone app’s latest feature -- screen mirroring.
Microsoft starts testing Android screen mirroring on Windows 10
Microsoft first introduced its Your Phone app late last year, and Windows Insiders running a 19H1 build can now try out a brand new feature -- screen mirroring.
This new addition lets users mirror an Android phone’s screen directly on a Windows 10 PC, but -- as you might expect -- this feature isn’t available to all.
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