Google 'Scheduled Pause' is potentially dangerous
Parenting can be hard -- I get it. It can be a real hassle to monitor what a child is doing 24 hours per day. Nowadays, with the internet and many connected devices, your child could be online when you aren't aware. Luckily, there are tools to help you track their activity -- up all night surfing the web? Busted!
Today, the Google Wifi router gets a new tool to help owners better manage internet access. Called "Scheduled Pause," it literally lets you pause the internet for selected devices. In other words, it could make a tablet or other device inoperable during a certain time frame -- like a bedtime. Here's the problem. What if there is an emergency, like say, a home invasion, and the child wants to use the tablet to get help? If the tragedy occurs while the internet is paused, it could be catastrophic.
Windows XP more popular than Windows 10 with businesses
If you are keeping track of Windows 10's adoption, you probably know that the operating system has hit a plateau. According to NetMarketShare, it has been hovering around the 25 percent usage share mark for a few months now. That said, it still remains the second most-popular version of Windows (and OS), coming after Windows 7.
However, if we look at the business space in particular, Windows 10 is actually nowhere near as popular with PC users. Microsoft's latest operating system lags far behind Windows 7 and Windows XP too. One might expect Windows 7 to come out ahead, the fact that Windows XP ranks higher may come as a surprise.
Hide files or folders inside JPEGs with FileFriend
FileFriend is a tiny portable toolkit which can split, join, encrypt or hide your target files in a JPG.
The program organizes its simple interface into four tabs: Split, Join, Encrypt and "JPK" (pack a file or folder inside a JPEG).
New SaaS platform delivers gateway security for the cloud
Organizations are increasingly faced with the need to support a more distributed environment, with employees accessing data on mobile devices and information stored both in-house and in the cloud.
Keeping these systems secure places a strain on traditional gateway security models, but cyber security company iboss is launching a new Distributed Gateway Platform is purposefully designed and packaged to offer today’s distributed organizations advanced gateway security capabilities.
Amazon Cash lets you pay for Amazon shopping with cash rather than a bank card
Amazon today announced details of Amazon Cash, a new way to shop online that does not require shoppers to have a bank card. The system allows shoppers to print out a barcode -- or display it on the screen of their iOS or Android phone -- and make a payment in brick-and-mortar stores.
Launching in the US, Amazon Cash can be used to add money to a customer's Amazon Balance, and a number of big names including CVS Pharmacy, Speedway and Sheetz are among the stores participating in the scheme.
Teradata delivers portable database licensing for the hybrid cloud
Whilst cloud and hybrid models offer undoubted flexibility, they can lead to problems when it comes to keeping track of software licenses.
Analytics solutions company Teradata is looking to cut through the confusion with the launch of a new simplified licensing model. This aims to deliver portability for deployment flexibility, subscription-based licenses and simplified tiers with bundled features.
Samsung's Galaxy S8: 'Bigger, longer, uncut!'
I remember the time I accidentally stumbled upon a porn shoot in the San Fernando Valley, CA. The headliners were infamous wife-beater (and sliced manhood holder) John Wayne Bobbitt and some chick named Belladonna (Stevie Nicks dies a little inside every time I say that name).
As I recall, the title card on the set said something about "bigger, longer, uncut!" And that’s what I thought of when I first laid eyes on the Samsung Galaxy S8: "Damn, is that thing LONG!" And I don’t mean that in a positive, "you should be in porn, fella!" kind of way. I mean it as criticism -- as in, "it’s so long you’ll look stupid holding it up to your face!"
HTC celebrates Vive VR anniversary by launching Viveport Subscription service
While virtual reality has long been expensive, it has become more achievable in recent years. A VR-ready PC is much more affordable, as are the VR accessories. It still isn't a simple affair, however, as there are competing platforms, such as Oculus and Vive. It can be confusing for consumers to know which to choose.
Today, Vive-maker HTC announces that it is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the commercial launch of the virtual reality platform and hardware. To mark the occasion, existing users will get a free game, while new buyers of the hardware will save $100. More exciting, however, the company is launching Viveport Subscription on April 5. For a paltry monthly fee, users get access to a big library of VR apps and games.
New audit solution fights insider threats against core enterprise systems
Many enterprises still rely on mainframes, while these are inherently secure, audits of user activities have historically been limited to scans of disparate logs and SMF data that don’t specifically capture start-to-finish user session activity.
Mainframe software specialist Compuware is launching a new cybersecurity and compliance solution that enhances the ability of enterprises to stop insider threats by fully capturing and analyzing start-to-finish mainframe application user behavior.
Android is more popular than Windows... for getting online
We already know that interest in Windows 10 is on the wane, but now Android is more popular than any version of Windows with Internet users. Google's mobile operating system has overtaken Windows as the preference for getting online for the first time.
Usage figures published by StatCounter show that Android accounted for 37.93 percent of the worldwide OS Internet usage share in March. Windows is not far behind at 37.91 percent, but Android taking the lead is being described as a "milestone in technology history."
Poor social network password habits put business data at risk
In an increasingly connected world few aspects of our lives exist in isolation. As a result, bad password habits on social networks can put work accounts at risk.
A new study by account management solutions company Thycotic reveals that 53 percent of users haven’t changed their social network passwords in more than a year -- with 20 percent having never changed their passwords at all. This not only means their social network accounts are at risk but if the same password is being used elsewhere, other accounts are vulnerable too.
Virginia Tech's DIALDroid shows Android apps steal data through secret collusion
Researchers from Virginia Tech have found that Android apps can work together to mine personal information from smartphones. While users have long been aware of the need to check the privacy settings and permissions for individual apps, few people will have thought of the potential for collusion between apps that, individually, have innocuous-looking settings.
A team from the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech's College of Engineering developed a tool called DIALDroid (Database powered ICC AnaLysis for anDroid) and used it to monitor the exchange of data between apps. Analysis of 110,150 apps over three years found that security and privacy is put at risk as information is shared between different, independent apps that users may have installed.
Security researchers uncover phishing attack with very high success rate
A new and "very aggressive" airline phishing attack was just spotted, and it's one with such a high success rate that even security experts are baffled. It was spotted by Barracuda, and it says that this new attack has a success rate of 90 percent.
The attack combines impersonation, advanced persistent threats and phishing, giving the attackers long-term stealth access to a myriad corporate networks.
How to find out which of your apps are not compatible with iOS 11
Last week saw the release of iOS 10.3, and thoughts are already turning to the next major release of Apple's mobile operating system. When iOS 11 launches later this year, it is not expected to support 32-bit apps and this means that a number of apps that have not been updated accordingly will stop working.
Built into iOS 10.3 is a tool that can be used to quickly determine which of your apps could die in iOS 11. While it's possible that updates might be released for them, Apple's move away from 32-bit software is far from new, so it's probably time to start looking for 64-bit alternatives for anything you have come to rely on.
Pay-as-you-go cloud platform offers fast, convenient web design
It's a rare business that doesn't have a website these days, but for smaller companies the process of building a site and keeping it up to date can be costly and time consuming.
Texas-based startup Snaplitics is aiming to fix this with the launch of an affordable tool for creating professional websites and landing pages without having to hire developers.
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