Latest Technology News

Donald Trump is just one example of politicians using social media to get their messages out. With President Trump, Twitter acts very much as a one-way means of communications -- Facebook wants to make the channels between elected officials and constituents a two-way street.

As such, the social network is launching three new features -- Constituent Badges, Constituent Insights and District Targeting -- to help users get in touch with their elected representatives. These are the latest attempts by Facebook to increase meaningful civic engagement through its service while fighting back complaints about fake news.

Continue reading →

The number of impersonation attacks rose by 400 percent this quarter, new research has revealed.

According to a new report by Mimecast, attacks where malicious actors carefully impersonate C-level executives, employees or business partners are on the rise.

Continue reading →

Apple has long made it clear that support for 32-bit apps will be phased out eventually. On the iPhone and iPad side, the final nail in the coffin comes with iOS 11. However, macOS developers have a bit more time left to prepare for a 64-bit only future.

Starting next year, Apple will no longer accept 32-bit macOS apps in the App Store, which means that any new titles must be 64-bit from January onwards. However, for existing apps and their upcoming updates there is a different deadline.

Continue reading →

There is a belief that Linux-based computers are inherently secure, and yeah, there is some truth to that. With that said, no operating system, kernel, or hardware is infallible. All computers have vulnerabilities and can ultimately be hacked.

A good example of this is the Linux Mint-powered MintBox 2. While the diminutive PC is not built by the Linux Mint team (it is merely a rebranded Intense PC), it is supported by them. Today, it is revealed that the computer is suffering from a dangerous vulnerability that can impact the machine's BIOS. Luckily, a patch is available.

Continue reading →

Researchers from the Kromtech Security Research Center have discovered an unprotected database online that includes information on about 10 million cars sold in the US.

As well as data such as VIN and details of payment plans, the database also includes detailed information about owners, such as name, address, phone numbers and occupation. It has been left exposed online for over four months, but it's not clear who the owner is -- or how to address the security risk it poses.

Continue reading →

New research from threat intelligence company Recorded Future reveals that of 12,500 disclosed Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs), more than 75 percent were publicly reported online before they were published to the NIST's centralized National Vulnerability Database (NVD).

Sources reporting include easily accessible sites such as news media, blogs, and social media pages as well as more remote areas of the internet including the dark web and criminal forums.

Continue reading →

It looks like iOS 11 will be a great upgrade for iPhone and iPad users, but not everyone will be able to join the party. As usual, Apple has dropped support for older -- yet still popular -- devices, and this time around two iPhones and an iPad are getting the axe.

As you might expect, the devices in question are the oldest iPhones and iPads that can run iOS 10, namely the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c and 4th-generation iPad. All the 32-bit devices, and the last to debut with a 32-bit processor, which means that iOS 11 will be a 64-bit-only affair.

Continue reading →

Continuing what has already been a newsworthy week for the world of smart speakers, rumors are beginning to circulate that Samsung plans to get in the game with its own news-reading, weather-watching, talking tabletop device.

It seems a logical progression for the smart device giant, after it launched its own voice assistant platform, Bixby, with the Galaxy S8 line of smartphones. That would presumably be the same platform that Samsung would use in a proprietary smart speaker.

Continue reading →

Kodi -- built from the ashes of XBMC -- remains a popular but controversial streaming media solution. The beauty of the software is that it allows for the streaming of just about anything, and that includes contents of questionable legality (oh, OK... let's just admit there are a bunch of add-ons that can be used to stream pirated content).

There has been a great deal of legal interest in so-called "fully-loaded" Kodi boxes of late, and this has had something of an unfortunate side-effect -- for fans of certain add-ons at least. Seemingly fearful of the legal implication of what their add-ons make possible, the developers of numerous well-known plugins are closing down. One of the latest is the popular Phoenix add-on.

Continue reading →

Keeping your garden free from weeds can be a tiresome and back-breaking job. Thankfully, Joe Jones, the creator of iRobot’s Roomba, has a solution -- a solar-powered robot that lives in home gardens and weeds every day so you don’t need to.

I spoke with Joe about his new creation Tertill which, after two years development, is set to finally graduate from prototype to product this month.

Continue reading →

PatchCleaner is a free tool which can detect and safely remove junk files from the \Windows\Installer folder, potentially freeing up gigabytes of hard drive space.

The folder contains Windows Installer-based setup programs and patch files, and uses these whenever you want to modify or update the software. They should be removed when you uninstall a program, but guess what? This doesn’t always happen.

Continue reading →

One of the weak points of the iPhone -- like just about any other smartphone -- is the screen. All it takes is a fall onto a hard surface and you could find yourself in shatter city. Getting a replacement screen is simple enough, but if you head off to an Apple store you could find that you're in for a bit of a wait.

All of this is about to change, as Apple is set to install official screen fixing Horizon Machines in around 400 third party repair centers around the world, including Best Buy in the US. The move will mean that third parties will now be able to repair iPhone screens without voiding warranties.

Continue reading →

A new report into cyber security trends shows healthcare to be the most frequently targeted industry, with 164 threats detected per 1,000 host devices.

Next most targeted are education and media, which had 145 and 123 detections per 1,000 host devices, respectively. By comparison, the food and beverage industry came in as the least targeted industry with just 17 detections per 1,000 hosts.

Continue reading →

Security software firm Kaspersky Labs has filed antitrust complaints against Microsoft in Europe. The complaints center around Microsoft disabling third party antivirus software in Windows 10 to favor its own Windows Defender.

The Russian company complained to the German Federal Cartel Office and the European Commission, saying that Microsoft abused its position. Microsoft has made some changes to the way Defender works, but Kaspersky does not believe this goes far enough.

Continue reading →

The pixel-perfect web is dead. The days of positioning elements on a web page and expecting them to always display exactly how we wanted are a distant memory; we now cope with the constant barrage of new and varied devices that our designs need to look fantastic on.

Responsive web design is no longer a nice-to-have bonus feature, it’s an expected must-have.

Continue reading →