The pros and cons of smart light bulbs
Home automation, "the internet of things" or IoT, has been a popular subject for the past couple of years. Unfortunately, that subject isn't always good -- some things have proven infinitely hackable, making it a bit on the worrisome side.
One of the first items to make the mainstream was light bulbs, and we've played around with a few and here is what we have found.
BBC iPlayer now requires you to sign in for your catch-up TV fix
Last month, the BBC announced plans to force iPlayer users to sign into their account in order to watch the catch-up service. The requirement is now rolling out, and this means that the option to skip sign-in is starting to vanish.
Visitors to the site are now greeted by a message that reads: "You now need to sign in to watch. It's quick & easy. And we'll keep you signed in." Without following the instruction to sign in -- which gives the BBC the opportunity to check for a valid TV license -- it is not possible to watch any programming.
Web hosting company pays $1 million after Erebus ransomware attack
The cost of a ransomware attack can be pretty substantial. Businesses that are not well prepared are looking at lost revenue from downtime and massive damage to their reputation, not to mention a pretty hefty ransom bill as well.
For web hosting company Nayana, that was $1 million. Nayana, which is based in South Korea, had 153 of its Linux-based servers infected by the Erebus ransomware on June 10. The attack affected roughly 3,400 customers that relied on its services for hosting websites, databases and multimedia content.
Digital solutions make up nearly half of a company's revenue
Digital solutions are becoming an increasingly profitable operation for many businesses, generating almost half of revenue (47 percent) for most major organizations, according to a new report.
That's according to Pure Storage which surveyed 9,000 businesses in 24 countries and in three regions (US, EMEA, Asia Pacific), and found that digital transformation is "no longer a buzzword" but is, in fact, actually happening right now.
New vulnerability manager aims to prevent the next WannaCry
When the WannaCry attack hit last month, a patch was already available to prevent it. Its victims were those who had failed to deploy it.
Software management company Flexera is aiming to help companies close the risk window between patches and attacks with the launch of its new Software Vulnerability Manager.
Retail industry leads the way in data breaches
The largest share of data breach incidents involved the retail industry, closely followed by food and beverages, according to a new report.
The 2017 Global Security Report from Trustwave shows that 22 percent of incidents involved the retail industry, followed by food and beverages at 20 percent.
ProtonVPN is a free VPN service that's now available to everyone
ProtonMail has opened up its free VPN service to anyone who wants to use it. ProtonVPN was previously only available to a limited number of beta testers, but now everyone can secure their internet connection for free.
The company is best known for its encrypted email service, but the prospect of a free VPN tool will also be enticing to anyone who has concerns about privacy. It also provides a free way of bypassing internet restrictions that may be put in place by governments or ISPs.
Protect your privacy with Disable Nvidia Telemetry
Microsoft and Windows may get most of the flak for collecting data on its users, but other companies also have issues. Nvidia’s GeForce Experience made headlines last year, thanks to some extensive data collection abilities of its own.
How extensive? Nvidia says “the application collects… hardware configuration, operating system, language, installed games, game settings, game usage, game performance, and current driver version… GeForce Experience does not share any personally identifiable information outside the company (link).”
Get 'The Essential Job Interview Handbook' ($8.50 value) FREE for a limited time
The Essential Job Interview Handbook will help job seekers prepare effectively for interviews and become familiar with different types of interview questions and styles of interviews.
A unique feature of this book from Career Press is the multiple answers it provides for each question, rated good, better, and best; with this feature, you'll learn what makes a winning answer and understand the strategy behind it.
Get 'Designing UX: Prototyping' ebook ($30 value) FREE for a limited time
If you’re involved in user experience design -- be it as a web designer or a software developer -- you’ll know that identifying and fixing problems is easier and cheaper if it can be done earlier in the process of design and build.
As work on a project progresses, so the effort involved in making any changes increases. If you can test out early ideas, via prototyping, then you can quickly identify whether those ideas are going to work. This great ebook from SitePoint -- which usually retails for $30 -- will tell you everything you need to know about prototyping.
Mozilla launches Firefox Focus, a privacy-focused web browser for Android
Late last year Mozilla launched a private browser for iOS called Firefox Focus. Now the browser arrives on Android bringing the same privacy-focused internet experience to users of Google's mobile operating system.
When Mozilla talks about being privacy-focused, it does not just mean using Private Browsing. Firefox Focus is a completely separate browser which blocks trackers, analytics and ads, and also wipes your browsing history with a single tap. As well as improving privacy, Focus also speeds up web browsing and reduces data usage.
Watch the OnePlus 5 launch event here today, live
It’s fair to say there’s a lot of anticipation around the new flagship killer from OnePlus, but the wait is very nearly over as today is the day it’s officially revealed.
Thanks to leaks and teases we already know a fair bit about the OnePlus 5, including that it’s going to be super thin, will have great cameras, and will likely feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and front fingerprint sensor.
New report reveals how malware uses evasion to hide in plain sight
People have been hiding secrets in everyday objects for hundreds of years. The digital world is no exception, and McAfee Labs has released its latest Quarterly Threat Report, part of which looks at how evasion techniques can be used to distribute malware.
The use of evasion techniques started in the 1980s, when a piece of malware defended itself by partially encrypting its own code, making the content unreadable by security analysts. Since then a dark market for off-the-shelf evasion technology has developed and several contemporary malware families now make use of evasion techniques.
YouTube updates its Restricted Mode policies after LGBTQ debacle
Back in March, Google was hit by criticism after it was discovered that its Restricted Mode filtered out many videos with LGBTQ content. A month later the company announced that it had fixed the problem that led to videos being "incorrectly filtered" and now, to coincide with Pride month, Google has revealed policy updates to Restricted Mode.
Google says that it has worked with LGBTQ creators and YouTube employees and will now explicitly allow content that was previously blocked, to be seen in Restricted Mode -- hoping to quieten any shouts of "censorship." The new policies mean that content such as "kissing at weddings, personal accounts of difficult events, and speaking out against discrimination" should no longer be caught in the net.
UK officials believe North Korea is behind WannaCry ransomware
Nearly a month after it struck devices around the globe, new information has emerged surrounding the major WannaCry ransomware attack.
The BBC says British officials from the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) are now claiming infamous North Korean cyber-criminal group Lazarus was behind the attack.
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