Tech industry sides with Apple in San Bernadino iPhone case
The tech industry is on Apple’s side when it comes to the dispute with FBI over the unlocking of the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone.
This was, once again, confirmed through a research done by security vendor AlienVault. According to the company’s survey, which polled 1,500 IT security professionals, 33 percent support FBI, while the rest think unlocking the phone will do nothing but weaken overall product security.
Microsoft kills Tay, its racist, sexist, Holocaust-denying, Trump-loving AI bot
Proving that artificial intelligence has the potential to go horrendously wrong, Microsoft has been forced to pull the plug on Tay, its artificial intelligence-powered chat bot that had been unleashed on Twitter. Initially designed as an exercise in engaging millennials, it didn’t take long for Tay to go rogue -- albeit with a little help from a number of hardcore users.
Microsoft was almost certainly proud of bagging itself a verified account on Twitter for Tay, but it really didn’t take long for things to turn sour. Twitter users quickly learned that the very nature of an AI bot meant that it was ripe for moulding, and it was a mere matter of hours before the bot had been transformed from a mild-mannered female Twitter user into a Nazi-loving racist who hates feminists and loves Hitler... and Donald Trump.
Game Fire 5 gets Windows 10 support, new optimization engine
Smart PC Utilities has shipped Game Fire 5, the latest edition of its PC gaming performance booster.
This release brings official support for Windows 10 -- both 32 and 64-bit editions -- but finally sees Windows XP support dropped.
A new optimization engine can examine and tweak even more components, including services, processes, scheduled tasks and Registry settings (only some of these are available in the free build).
Losing customer trust is a major concern for DDoS targets
The loss of trust and confidence of customers is the most damaging consequence of a DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack, a new survey by Corero Network Security says.
In the annual survey, entitled DDoS Impact Survey, losing trust is the most damaging consequence for 50 percent of those surveyed, followed by lost revenue, for 34 percent. The surveyed include IT decision makers (ITDMs), network operators and security experts that were present at the recently held RSA 2016 conference.
Google partners with Microsoft and other email providers to bolster Gmail encryption
If you are an email user, there is a very good chance you use Google's ubiquitous Gmail service. While there are countless other options, such as Outlook, AOL, Yahoo and more, the search giant's offering is quite popular. It is easy to see why -- it is easy to use, secure, and can double as a Google account for things such as Play access on the wildly popular Android.
Today, Google announces that it is making Gmail even more secure. With so much talk about enryption in the news nowadays, the search giant is enhancing its email service with improved TLS encryption. How is it doing this? By working with other email providers, such as Microsoft to make sure encrypted emails remain that way in transmission.
Docker comes to Mac and Windows
Today is the third birthday of the Docker containerization system and to celebrate the company is launching a beta program for Mac and Windows versions of its software.
It offers an integrated, easy-to-deploy environment for building, assembling, and shipping applications from Mac or Windows as well as having many improvements over Docker Toolbox.
Microsoft releases more details on its Edge Translator extension
Last week Microsoft finally revealed extensions for its Edge web browser for Windows 10. It began with just a handful of add-ons, but more are on the way. We previously told you how to install them, including the translator, but now Microsoft is adding a bit more information.
The new Edge extensions are currently considered previews and are only available to Windows 10 Insiders, and you'll need Build 14291 to use them.
The rise of the advanced persistent bots
Overall bad bot activity is decreasing, but the number of advanced persistent bots is up according to a new report.
The 2016 Bad Bot Landscape Report from Distil Networks reveals that 88 percent of all bad bot traffic has one or more characteristics of an advanced persistent bot, one that's able to mimic human activity and evade detection.
Zero day OS X flaw can bypass System Integrity Protection
Security company SentinelOne has released news of a major flaw in Apple OS X systems that can allow the bypassing of the latest System Integrity Protection security feature.
This zero day vulnerability is present in all versions of Apple's OS X operating system. It has been reported to Apple and patches will be available soon. SentinelOne’s lead OS X security expert, Pedro Vilaça, is presenting the full findings on this vulnerability today at SysCan360 2016 in Singapore.
You might want to hold off on upgrading to iOS 9.3, OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan [Update]
Apple earlier this week released new versions of its mobile and Mac operating systems, namely iOS 9.3 and OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan. They come with a significant number of changes, like Night Shift mode, extended Wi-Fi calling support and lots of security fixes, but also introduce bugs which are causing major issues for some early adopters.
It is not unheard of a new iOS or OS X release to break things, as Apple seems to be dealing with these kind of things quite frequently nowadays. Not everyone may be affected, but if you have an iPad 2 or use Apple's messaging services often on your Mac you might want to hold off on performing the upgrade.
Uber announces bug bounty program
Uber is calling on independent computer researchers and experts to find weaknesses in its system as the transportation firm is set to release its technical map.
As Uber jumps into the bug bounty bandwagon -- a philosophy that has long been advocated by the open-source software movement -- it details its software infrastructure to the public, identifies what sorts of data might be exposed inadvertently and suggests what types of flaws are the most likely to be found.
Logitech G900 Chaos Spectrum wireless gaming mouse outperforms wired mice
Wireless mice are a tricky situation. On the one hand, they eliminate unsightly wires, creating a more aesthetic desktop look. The downside, of course, is the need of batteries. Whether it is rechargeable or not, it can be a total bummer when the juice runs out. Hardcore gamers in particular just don't have time for such things -- depleted batteries can cause lost matches and other frustrations. Not to mention, wired mice can have less lag, offering better performance.
Today, Logitech announces a gaming-focused mouse. Called the G900 Chaos Spectrum, it features a selectable DPI between 200 and 12,000. While wireless gaming mice are nothing new, the company claims this model has advanced wireless technologies, offering better performance than wired mice. That is quite the bold statement -- is it realistic?
Reclaim lost disk space on a USB key with imageUSB
There are many tools to help you customize a USB flash drive. You could make it bootable, run one or more LiveCDs, lock it to prevent unauthorized access, create encrypted storage areas, and more.
This will often work just as you expect, but sometimes, when you try to use the flash drive to store files again, you might find that some of its capacity has disappeared.
User error is the leading cause of data loss in SaaS applications
Accidental deletion of information is the leading cause of data loss from SaaS applications, responsible for 43 percent in the US and 41 percent in the UK, ahead of data loss caused by malicious insiders and hackers.
This is among the findings of a new survey of IT professionals in the US and UK from cloud backup specialist Spanning which also has insights into who is responsible for SaaS data protection, organizational confidence in SaaS data protection, and the top concerns surrounding moving data to the cloud.
Police: if you fall victim to online fraud, it's your own fault
Victims of online fraud are to blame for their misfortune and should not be rewarded with a refund for money they lose. This is the view of UK Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe who says that banks should not pay money lost to online fraud as the victims have not taken their security seriously.
Rather than offering refunds to customers, banks should instead be encouraging them to use stronger password, keep antivirus software up to date, and generally be more careful. It's a view that’s certainly going to prove controversial and raises the question of whether the carrot or the stick is the best approach to tackling online fraud.
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