Cybercriminals earn over $3 billion a year from social platforms

Cybercrime cash

Social media-enabled cybercrimes are generating at least $3.25 billion in global revenue annually according to a new report.

The study released by virtualization-based security company Bromium and  researched and written by Dr Mike McGuire, senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Surrey, looks at the range of techniques used by cybercriminals to exploit trust and enable rapid infection across social media.

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Senators want Huawei equipment removed from US power grid because of security concerns

Powerlines

Huawei may well be causing excitement with its foldable smartphone, the Mate X, but the company's troubles in the US continue. The American government has already banned the use of some Huawei equipment, including in 5G networks, and there are now calls for the shunning of the Chinese company to spread to the US power grid.

Although Huawei has remained defiant in the face of sanctions by the US, the Senate Intelligence Committee has now written to the Departments of Homeland Security and Energy, calling on them to block the company's network-connected hardware from being used in the electrical grid.

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SanDisk 1TB Extreme UHS-I microSDXC card is world's fastest

Earlier today, we reported on some very exciting news regarding microSD -- a new faster "Express" version of the card type is on the way. microSD Express will usher in a new era of ultra-fast diminutive storage cards.

For now, however, SanDisk is laying claim to having the world's fastest (non-Express) 1TB microSD. In addition to this new 1TB variant of the Extreme UHS-I microSDXC card, the company is also announcing a 512GB model at a significantly lower price. Speed between the two new capacities will be identical. The previous top capacity for this line of high-performance cards was 400GB.

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5 tips to help CIOs overcome patching problems

Patch download

With endpoint attacks on the rise, and the risk and cost of a data breach steadily increasing, protecting enterprise networks has become an urgent priority. And, it seems that no one is immune: in a recent survey of global companies, 93 percent experienced a cyberattack in the last year. For one-third of those companies, attacks were a weekly occurrence.

While cybercriminals are certainly working overtime to find new opportunities to wreak havoc, the truth is that CIOs and those in charge of enterprise security bear some of the responsibility for the increasing prevalence of attacks. Last year, nearly 60 percent of successful breaches exploited known vulnerabilities, and of those organizations that were victims of attack, nearly 40 percent admit they were aware of that vulnerability prior to the event.

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'Hi, how can we scam you today?' -- Office 365 phishing site comes with live chat support

Phishing password

An increasingly common -- and frankly rather annoying -- feature of many commercial websites is the little chat box that pops up in the bottom right corner and asks if you need any help.

Security researcher Michael Gillespie has revealed that an Office 365 phishing site is using this live support technique to give its page an air of legitimacy.

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10 best apps for people seeking jobs (or side hustles) in 2019

In addition to being amazing tools for communication, smartphones and tablets can play a dominant role in helping you find a job. Whether you are a recent college graduate seeking your first serious job or a 30-year professional looking to make a change leveraging the possibilities of the gig economy, harnessing the capabilities of your phone or tablet can significantly increase your odds of success.

Here are ten apps that can help you zero in on the right job, navigate the application process, and ace the interview.

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Give your Apple iPhone a Windows 95 makeover with iOS95

Nostalgia is a powerful thing. The 1990s are popular at the moment -- as the new 90s-set Captain Marvel movie shows -- and Windows 95 is suddenly making a comeback of sorts, partially fueled by people's interest in that decade.

If you’ve ever wondered what a modern version of the OS would look like, you can find out here, and you can now run an app version of the original Windows 95 on Windows 10, macOS and Linux. Own an iPhone? You can replace iOS 12 with iOS95 -- here's how.

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My predictions for 2019 -- The year when everything changes… forever

Now, finally, to my predictions for 2019. This is, I believe, my 22nd and possibly last year of looking ahead, so I want to do something different and potentially bigger. Our old format works fine but I’ve been pondering this and I really think we’re at a sea-change in technology. It’s not just that new tech is coming but we as consumers of that tech are in major transitions of our own. It has as much to do with demographics as technology. So while I’ll be looking ahead all this week, coming up with the usual 10 predictions, I want to make sure we all understand that this isn’t business as usual. This time it really IS different.

I’ve been thinking about 50 year cycles. The year 1968, which was 50 years ago when I started writing this column back in November, saw a huge social and political upheaval with student riots all over the world, the rise of the hippy movement in the USA, the Summer of Love and the founding of Intel. Most of the technical progress we have seen since 1968 has been driven by microprocessors, which were largely the work of Intel. And it took 50 years, but we’re now approaching the Internet of Things, where processors will be in everything and everything will be linked or monitored, which is either good or bad depending who you are.

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Looking back at my 2018 predictions, I was somehow 70 percent correct

I can’t put this off any longer, so here are the tech predictions I made a year ago for 2018. We have to see how well or poorly I did before we can move on to my predictions for 2019 and beyond. These old predictions have been edited for length, but not to avoid embarrassment. I try to never avoid embarrassment.

One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that my predictions get longer and longer (this column, alone, is 4329 words -- my second longest, ever) as they have drifted from new products to explaining new strategies. This sometimes works against the prediction since it is often easier to claim success if your goal is vague, but I see it more as a tribute to my readers. Many of you have been with me for decades and the very fact that we are both still here has as much to do with the work as with its results. How the future fits together is just as important as where it is heading.

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New platform helps enterprise networks get closer to the edge

Edge computing

Driven by the growth of mobile computing, IoT devices and the upcoming 5G rollout, edge networking is on the rise and leading businesses to take a fresh look at their networking strategies.

But going from a traditional approach to a virtualized, cloud-native, and software-driven network that connects headquarters to multiple branches and deploys new services like SD-WAN, Virtualized Customer Premises Equipment (vCPE), and IoT devices isn’t easy.

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SD Association unveils microSD Express

microSD cards still blow my mind. It remains amazing to me that so much storage can be offered on a card smaller than a postage stamp. They come in very handy for devices like smartphones, tablets, and drones, to name a few.

The SD Association is continuing to push the envelope, however, making these diminutive cards even better. No, the cards are not getting physically smaller -- thank goodness. Actually, they are getting faster. Joining the existing SD Express, the micro cards are also getting the speedy "Express" treatment. Yes, microSD Express cards are on the way.

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Battle of the foldable phones: Samsung Galaxy Fold vs Huawei Mate X

Galaxy Fold and Mate X

The age of the folding phone is upon us. Gone are the days of prototypes -- now we have hardware we can actually buy... or at least will be able to very soon indeed. Both Samsung and Huawei have unveiled foldables in recent days, but how do they stack up?

The two companies have taken different approaches with the Galaxy Fold and the Mate X when it comes to the hinging, but there are also specs to consider -- and, of course, price. So how do the two flagship foldables compare?

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Google Assistant is coming to the Messages app and RCS marches on

Google Assistant Messages

Google has a history of changing its mind about messaging services, launching and closing them left, right and center. The company now seems pretty invested in its Messages platform, and has been gradually adding more and more features to increase its appeal.

Google's latest move sees it bringing Assistant integration to the Messages app so you can get one-tap access to AI-powered help and information. The company also says that it remains committed to RCS (Rich Communication Service) and wants to bring the standard to more Android users.

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Mageia 7 Beta 2 Linux distribution now available for download

Late last year, in the beginning of December, Mageia 7 officially entered the beta stage. Fans of the operating system were obviously excited, but since then, all has been quiet.

Today, however, this changes — Mageia 7 Beta 2 is officially here! Unfortunately, according to the developers, a stable version is still far off.

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HUAWEI refreshes MateBook X Pro while introducing MateBook 14

"Elegance" and "value." Those two words are synonymous with HUAWEI. The company is still establishing itself in the USA, but in China, HUAWEI's products are insanely popular. Its laptops, tablets, and smartphones are designed to be beautiful and functional, while also offering a great value. In some ways, it has matched or exceeded the legendary Apple in the design department.

HUAWEI's laptops in particular are top notch, putting the Windows 10 machines from other manufacturers to shame. The MateBook X Pro, for instance, offers insane performance in an affordable and attractive package. Today, the company announces a refresh to that laptop, while also unveiling a new model -- the MateBook 14. After coming away extremely impressed by the MateBook 13 earlier this month, I have very high hopes for the 14. The X Pro and 14 both have the much desired 3:2 aspect ratio, but the former has higher resolution. Another big difference between the two is that the X Pro has Thunderbolt 3, while the 14 does not. With that said, the 14 does have HDMI, so you can output video without a dongle -- a nice feature for some.

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