FBI granted the right to hack the computers of any suspect running Tor, VPNs or anonymizing software
Starting today, the FBI will now have a much easier time hacking just about any computer it wants to. The use of VPNs and other anonymizing software such as Tor meant that it was previously difficult for the Feds to apply for the necessary warrant within the relevant jurisdiction.
Now the location doesn't matter. A change to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure means that investigators can obtain a search warrant regardless of location. The expansion of FBI hacking powers comes after a failed Senate bid to block the changes to Rule 41, and there are fears that it is power that could be abused by Trump.
Seagate Duet is a 1TB USB HDD with automatic Amazon Drive cloud backup capability
When it comes to backing up a computer, I am a big proponent of the cloud. While local backups should also be part of your plan, redundancy is key. If there is ever a disaster, such as a flood or fire, you will be very glad for the cloud backup. If the cloud storage company goes out of business, you will be thankful for the local copy. In other words, don't just rely on one method.
Seagate has an interesting new product, called "Duet", that it developed with Amazon, and it aims to create a positive redundant backup experience. The hardware itself is rather basic -- a 1TB 2.5-inch portable USB (Type-A) hard disk drive. The magic is in the software (Windows and Mac only), however, as it creates automatic cloud backups of the HDD contents to Amazon Drive in the cloud.
Android 7.0 Nougat Beta (aka OxygenOS Open Beta 8) now available for OnePlus 3
The OnePlus 3 may have been discontinued in favour of the OnePlus 3T, but it has certainly not been forgotten. Just after confirming that the two devices will enjoy the same update schedule once Android 7.0 is released for them, OnePlus has pushed out a beta version of Nougat for the older handset -- and it's leagues above the unofficial build we saw recently.
As this is a beta, you have to jump through a few hoops to get yourself a copy of OxygenOS Open Beta 8 -- which is based on Nougat. Actually, there's just one hoop: rather than enjoying the ease of an OTA update, you'll have to install the beta manually.
AOC P2779VC 27-inch 1080p display has integrated Qi wireless charging
1080p monitors are a dime a dozen nowadays -- the market is saturated with them. Heck, many people are opting for displays with much better resolution too. In other words, it is virtually impossible to have a 1080p monitor stand out from the crowd.
And yet, AOC has managed to do so. How? The company has integrated a Qi charger into the base of its newest 27-inch monitor -- the P2779VC. If you own a compatible smartphone, you can charge it wirelessly by placing it on the monitor. That unique feature aside, this PLS display has other cool aspects too, such as 8-bit color depth and 178-degree viewing angles.
BMW will invest €500 million in automotive startups
BMW Group has announced that its i Ventures division will be investing €500 million over the next 10 years on new car technologies in an effort to bolster its progress in developing autonomous vehicles.
The company's i Ventures division will use the money to invest in startups working on technologies such as autonomous driving and mapping that will allow BMW to improve its cars by making them both more intelligent and efficient.
Mesh Networking: An alternative internet?
Currently, in order to exchange information on a computer or smartphone, we transfer it over the internet. This may take many different forms -- a web browser, email client, app or cloud storage -- but at the end of the day, you’re sending packets of information to another computer via the now-ubiquitous internet. Since we interact with this system all of the time, we no longer think about "going online". For many people, it’s just a natural state.
If you step back a little bit, you’ll remember that the internet isn’t the only way to transfer computer information. Disks, CDs and other physical media once dominated this space, and the term "sneakernet" was even coined to refer to physically transferring media from place to place. There were phone-based communication systems known as bulletin boards (BBSes), and larger endeavors like America Online or CompuServe, which used phone modems. These were limited to a maximum of 56 kilobits per second (kbps) over telephone lines and had a limited number of simultaneous users.
The 'age of automation' can benefit the security landscape
Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and automation are technology trends dominating discussions in many different industries at the moment and cyber security is no exception.
As cyber criminals become more advanced and the threat landscape continues to develop, businesses are looking to new technologies that can help secure their organization in a more proactive way.
The UK government's latest deluded idea: 'banning' underage sexting on social media
When the UK government is not busy looking for ways to invade internet users' privacy, it's looking for ways to restrict what they are able to do online -- particularly when it comes to things of a sexual nature.
The health secretary Jeremy Hunt has made calls for technology companies and social media to do more to tackle the problems of cyberbullying, online intimidation and -- rather specifically -- under-18-year-olds texting sexually explicit images. Of course, he doesn't have the slightest idea about how to go about tackling these problems, but he has expressed his concern so that, in conjunction with passing this buck to tech companies, should be enough, right?
Google brings 4K video live streaming to YouTube
While 1080p may look "good enough" to you, once you move to a higher resolution display, it is hard to go back. Prices for both 4K monitors and televisions continue to drop, meaning more and more consumers are buying them. During this past Black Friday, there were many such TVs being offered with big discounts.
Now that there are a healthy amount of these displays in the wild, content creators will be more motivated to release content in that resolution -- movies, TV, and video games. While Google added 4K playback to YouTube years ago, it did not offer live video streaming in that resolution. Today this changes, as the video site finally gets 4K live streaming -- including 360-degree streams. Best of all? Watching the streams won't require Microsoft Edge!
PC market shows signs of recovery
PC shipments will continue to decline in 2016, according to a new IDC forecast, but the drop will be slightly lower than previously expected. What's more, things will improve even more in 2017.
IDC expects PC vendors to ship a total of 258.2 million units this year, a figure which would be 6.4 percent lower than last year. The previous estimate was a 7.2 percent fall, which IDC announced in August. Growth will still be negative in 2017, but shipments are expected to decrease by just 2.6 percent compared to this year.
Symbol-to-accept strengthens multi-factor authentication
One of the more popular ways of securing logins in recent times has been the use of push-to-accept technology, sending a verification message to a user's mobile device.
However, this runs the risk of users inadvertently approving login requests that they didn't initiate. Adaptive access company SecureAuth is launching its new Symbol-to-accept technology to boost security without sacrificing convenience.
Netflix now lets you watch your favorite movies and TV shows offline
Many people stream their favorite movies and TV shows today through Netflix. The service, which boasts around 86 million subscribers, is available on all the major platforms, making it easy for users to enjoy it pretty much everywhere and on every PC, smartphone and tablet. That is, as long as there is a working Internet connection.
That changes today, as Netflix announces that it is also making its content available offline. Users are now able to download movies and TV shows and watch them while, for instance, traveling on an airplane or in a remote area. Here is what you need to know.
60 percent of enterprises have fallen victim to social engineering in 2016
A new study from cyber security company Agari reveals the scale of social engineering attacks on industrial organizations across the US.
Of over 200 security leaders surveyed 60 percent say their organizations were, or may have been, victim of at least one targeted social engineering attack in the past year, and 65 percent of those who were attacked say that employees' credentials were compromised as a result. In addition, financial accounts were breached in 17 percent of attacks.
Free online test can tell if you're 'pre-disposed' to negative or bad behavior
In the 2002 movie Minority Report, a law enforcement squad called "Precrime" arrests future criminals before they commit their act. Imagine if businesses could predict the future behavior of potential employees before hiring (or not hiring) them? That’s what Veris Benchmarks’ products aim to achieve.
The company also offers Veris Prime, is a free online test that you can take for yourself, and which measures your personal trustworthiness and shows how your results compare to white collar criminals.
C programming language showing signs of weakening in 2016
Created in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie, C is a dinosaur among computing languages. It’s large, powerful, and has dominated the programming ecosystem for over three decades. Technology changes every few years, and today there are hundreds of programming languages. It’s remarkable that one language has been able to remain so popular over the years, and there’s a reason for that.
Software developer Daniel Angel Munoz Trejo sums up C’s benefits well when he writes, "its closeness to the hardware, great portability and deterministic usage of resources make it ideal for low-level development for such things as operating systems kernels and embedded software. Its versatility, efficiency and good performance make it an excellent choice for high complexity data manipulation software...C is still unsurpassed when performance is the priority".
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