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Computer hardware is useless without software. As cool as the diminutive Raspberry Pi computers are, for instance, they are just paperweights until you install an operating system. The little computers can run many OSes -- including an IoT variant of Windows 10 -- but really, Linux makes it shine.

One of the most popular Linux-based operating systems for Raspberry Pi is the Debian-based Raspbian. This is the "official" distribution for the Pi hardware, and today, it gets a major update. The Chromium web browser gets bumped up to version 65, while a new and faster PDF viewer, called qpdfView, replaces Xpdf. More importantly, the operating system gets two big additions -- a new setup wizard and recommended software program.

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Cybercriminals use a variety of tactics to cloak their activity and that includes using trusted tools, like PowerShell, to retrieve and execute malicious code from remote sources.

A new report from eSentire reveals that 91 percent of endpoint incidents detected in Q1 2018 involved known, legitimate binaries.

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A hacker managed to take control of the Github account for Gentoo Linux, going as far as inserting malicious code into the distros. The malware was designed to delete user data.

Although the situation is now under control, an investigation is underway to determine what happened. Anyone who has downloaded a Gentoo distro or other files recently, is warned to "refrain from using code from the Gentoo Github Organization" for the time being.

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Throughout June, to celebrate BetaNews’ 20th birthday, we have been giving away some incredible prizes and while the month is drawing to a close now, we still have more giveaways for you enter.

The diskAshur Pro 2 range of portable USB hard drives from iStorage makes it easy to keep your personal files and folders private thanks to the integrated PIN authenticated XTS-AES 256-bit hardware encryption. Unlocking the drive is just a matter of tapping your PIN into the keypad and pressing the unlock button. To secure it again, just press the lock button, or eject the drive.

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At Mobile World Congress Shanghai, OnePlus CEO and founder Pete Lau said that his company is determined to make a proper entry into the North American market and is working with US carriers to make it happen.

OnePlus has also said that it is looking to produce a 5G phone in 2019, and it will take advantage of its relationship with Qualcomm to make this happen. For current and future OnePlus owners, the company also made commitments about software and security updates.

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Security software firm Avast acquired Piriform -- the maker of several popular system utilities, including CCleaner -- last year. Things didn’t go too well from the off however, as shortly afterwards, it was revealed that CCleaner had been hacked and a dangerously modified version had been available to download for a number of weeks.

Avast was quick to point out Piriform’s IT systems were breached before it acquired the company, but it was still in charge when the infected build was released. That sort of thing is very unfortunate -- and even more embarrassing given the business Avast is in -- but it could be forgiven. Unfortunately, since then Avast seems to be working hard to alienate CCleaner’s devoted userbase.

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Summertime only just began, and already, it is hot as hell outside. To be honest, I can deal with the heat -- it is the humidity that makes me have a bad time. As a fat guy, this means the back my shirts are usually soaked with sweat. Obesity aside, even thin folks can be miserable in hot and humid weather.

Luckily, I have central air conditioning at home -- one of life's greatest pleasures. As a tech enthusiast, I of course have it hooked to a Nest thermostat, which in turn, can be controlled by voice using Alexa. Not everyone is so lucky. Some people have to rely on an AC unit that goes in a window -- they are usually quite low tech, although some are "smart." Today, GE Appliances announces the world's first Apple HomeKit air conditioners, showing you really can get modern tech in a window unit.

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Amazon is always looking for new ways to get its Alexa digital assistant into more homes. It’s rolled out a variety of Echo products over the years, most recently the Fire TV Cube, and Echo Dot Kids Edition.

A year ago, the company introduced the Echo Show, an Alexa powered device with a built-in 7-inch touchscreen. Today, the retail giant announces a free software update to turn an existing Fire tablet into a slimmed down Show, and there’s a new optional charging dock to complete the experience too.

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A new report from log management platform Scalyr reveals that as organizations shift from more traditional architectures to microservices, they release software more frequently, but spend more time troubleshooting issues.

The State of DevOps Observability Report, based on a survey of 155 software development practitioners, finds that organizations are shifting away from traditional, monolithic architectures, with three-quarters of survey respondents delivering at least some of their applications and more than one-third delivering most of their applications as microservices.

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Amazon’s Fire tablets have been a big success for the company, with the Kids Editions proving very popular with parents. As well as offering age-appropriate content, they come with a kid proof case which makes them much harder to break than regular tablets.

Today the retail giant introduces a new model to the range. The Fire HD 10 Kids Edition is its largest kid friendly device to date, and for a price that’s very reasonable.

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Certificate authority Comodo CA is expanding out of its traditional area to launch a new platform designed to secure Internet of Things devices.

Hackers increasingly target IoT devices that have no security embedded and exposed vulnerabilities. The new Comodo CA IoT unified portal directly addresses this problem by enabling trusted, third-party, mutual authentication of devices to networks.

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Linux Mint is an Ubuntu-based desktop Linux distribution, right? Yes and no. While the "normal" version of the operating system is, in fact, based on Canonical's distro, there is yet another version. Called Linux Mint Debian Edition, or LMDE, it is based on Debian -- as the name implies.

Today, we learn some interesting news. The Beta of the next version of the operating system, LMDE 3 -- code-named "Cindy" -- should be released next month, in July.

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Cybercriminals are using mobile devices to avoid detection and execute a number of nefarious acts, according to a new report.

The study from bot mitigation specialist Distil Networks finds 5.8 percent -- around one in 17 -- of all mobile devices across six major cellular networks are used in such automated attacks and represent eight percent of all bad bot traffic.

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A new Harris Poll commissioned by insider threat detection company Dtex Systems looks at employee attitudes towards the monitoring of their digital activities.

Carried out in the wake of data collection, monitoring and privacy scandals at Facebook and elsewhere, it shows that 45 percent of Americans believe it is at least sometimes acceptable for employers to monitor employees' digital activities to protect against security threats and data breaches.

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Back in March, we reported on the Mintbox Mini 2 -- a diminutive Linux Mint desktop PC manufactured by a company called "Compulab." Of course, it can run other distributions too, such as Ubuntu and Fedora. Heck, it can even run Windows 10 if you want/need. This is the second generation of Mintbox Mini with the big difference being a switch from AMD to Intel. The fanless device is not a powerhouse, but it should run the Linux distribution like a champ. Quite frankly, it is very beautiful too -- the fins look cool as hell.

Barring any last-minute issues, the release of Linux Mint 19 "Tara" is imminent -- it should be made available any day now. As a result, starting today, you can finally order the MintBox Mini 2. Apparently, Compulab was waiting for Tara's release to get closer before taking orders. In addition to the standard model, there is also a "Pro" variant.

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