Latest Technology News

2016 was a record setting year for data breaches and hacks. In the last few months of the year Yahoo began making headline news for all the wrong reasons with two stories around how it was the victim of the largest cyber-attack in history, which saw one billion accounts being compromised. Making this situation all the more worst for Yahoo, was the fact that it was in the process of being acquired by Verizon.

This hack in fact has resulted in Verizon paying $350 million less for Yahoo and receiving confirmation from Yahoo’s board that any future legal costs or reparations will be jointly covered. The bad news of companies across the globe is that Yahoo’s attack is likely to only be the beginning. As cyber attacks escalate in both their volume and size the dangers to companies looking at acquiring others rises.

For many, March is just another month in the calendar year. For basketball fans, however, it is significant for one big reason -- the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, otherwise known as "March Madness." Only the best college teams make the cut, making it an exciting elimination tournament. It is a great way to see future professional players in a pressure situation -- some of them will play in the coveted NBA.

Watching basketball aside, another fun aspect of the tournament is the bracket challenges. You see, many people like to predict who will win each matchup, and ultimately, which team will become the champion. If you think that sounds easy, trust me, it is much harder than you think, with quintillions of possibilities. Heck, some of these folks bet real money on it. Today, Microsoft announces that its Bing Predicts service can help people create "smarter" brackets. In other words, using the power of data, you could possibly increase your chances.

Privacy and security are major concerns when it comes to life online, but a survey by Mozilla reveals that a worrying number of people do not know how to stay in control of them. The company also found that a third of people feel they have no control over their information online, with a similar number confessing to knowing "very little" about encryption.

But these are not the only concerns of internet users. Mozilla also asked about people's greatest online fears. Topping the list is "being hacked by a stranger" (a fear held by 80 percent of people), and "being tracked by advertisers" (61 percent). As well as presenting the results of its survey, Mozilla also has some important advice.

Intel is serious about becoming an important player in the self-driving car market. After teaming up with various companies, including car makers, to develop and promote solutions for autonomous vehicles, it's now taking things to the next level by acquiring Mobileye.

Mobileye, in case you are not familiar with it, is best known for supplying the technology (like sensors and cameras) used in Tesla's first-generation Autopilot. Intel will spend just over $15bn to buy the Israeli company.

Vulnerabilities in software are at the heart of many security problems, providing a foothold for hackers that they can use to gain access to systems.

The latest Vulnerability Review from the Secunia Research arm of Flexera Software maps the security threat presented to IT infrastructures and explores vulnerabilities in the 50 most popular applications on private PCs.

If you're looking for an alternative to Microsoft's Surface Hub, Google has just the thing for you. Unveiled last October, Jamboard is a 55-inch whiteboard featuring a 4K touchscreen display, HD camera, speakers and integration with the search giant's G Suite productivity apps.

Google did not initially reveal how much it will cost or when it will be available, but the company now says that it will be priced just shy of $5,000 and will be released in just a couple of months.

Without a hint of irony, Facebook has told developers that they may not use data from Instagram and Facebook in surveillance tools.

The social network says that the practice has long been a contravention of its policies, but it is now tidying up and clarifying the wording of its developer policies. American Civil Liberties Union, Color of Change and the Center for Media Justice put pressure on Facebook after it transpired that data from users' feeds was being gathered and sold on to law enforcement agencies.

Last year's highly publicized Yahoo and LinkedIn breaches exposed millions of users' passwords to the public and saw them for sale on the dark web.

Researchers at behavioral firewall company Preempt have analyzed the leaked LinkedIn passwords to find out how many were weak before the breach occurred.

Now that we've had Selection Sunday, people can begin filling out their brackets and putting their money where their mouths are. From number one ranked Villanova all the way back to number 68 Mt St. Mary, and all of the schools in between.

But what if you don't have cable or satellite to watch the action? You have some viewing options. Using a set-top box like Roku you need never miss a moment.

For many business managers who are making their first foray into researching ERP software, the subject can see daunting. Search the internet for "ERP software" and you’ll be inundated with dozens of pages of information and opinion; it’s a big subject and there is no shortage of commentators, experts and marketers, all vying for your attention and, of course, a share of your IT budget.

The good news is that despite the technical acronym, the basic principles of ERP software are easily defined and once understood, a business manager is in a solid position to begin considering the different options available to their company.

Choosing the right mobile plan can be a minefield, requiring you to balance your needs for voice, texts and data against the performance of the service provider and the monthly costs.

US company Mint SIM is seeking to shake things up with a phone service for today's agile, digitally savvy generation. It offers a model that is platform agnostic and not tied to a particular phone or OS.

StExBar is a tiny freeware tool which extends Windows Explorer with some handy features.

The program has been around for years, but it’s just been updated to work fully on Windows 10, so we grabbed a copy to see how it would perform.

Don't believe what Microsoft tells you -- Windows 10 is not an operating system. Oh, sure, it has many features that make it look like an operating system, but in reality it is nothing more than a vehicle for advertisements. Since the launch of Windows 10, there have been numerous complaints about ads in various forms. They appear in the Start menu, in the taskbar, in the Action Center, in Explorer, in the Ink Workspace, on the Lock Screen, in the Share tool, in the Windows Store and even in File Explorer.

Microsoft has lost its grip on what is acceptable, and even goes as far as pretending that these ads serve users more than the company -- "these are suggestions", "this is a promoted app", "we thought you'd like to know that Edge uses less battery than Chrome", "playable ads let you try out apps without installing". But if we're honest, the company is doing nothing more than abusing its position, using Windows 10 to promote its own tools and services, or those with which it has marketing arrangements. Does Microsoft think we're stupid?

It was 28 years ago that Tim-Berners-Lee submitted his proposal for the worldwide web. What he envisioned as an open platform that would break down global barriers has become a wild beast with endless problems. Talking on the anniversary of his invention, Berners-Lee has spoken about his concerns for the web.

He has three problems in his crosshairs, and he says the trio of issues is something "we must tackle in order for the web to fulfil its true potential as a tool that serves all of humanity." But he does not come armed with solutions; it's at least partly down to us to sort things out.

Despite being based on the very secure Linux kernel, Android isn't necessarily a very secure operating system. Unlike iOS which does a great job of shielding its users from installing apps from outside Apple's own App Store, it is far too easy to do so on Google's mobile OS. Also, there is nothing requiring manufacturers to issue device updates, meaning many users are forced to use outdated and vulnerable versions of the operating system.

For the most part, however, Android users can remain safe by acting intelligently, such as only installing apps from the Play Store. Well, that might not be so true anymore. You see, it has been discovered that many models of Android smartphones -- from manufacturers such as Samsung, LG, and even Google's own Nexus line -- are being sold with malware pre-installed. This is particularly bad malware, as it can steal user information. Some devices even came pre-loaded with ransomware!