Latest Technology News

A new Biannual ICS Risk and Vulnerability Report, released today by Claroty, reveals that more than 70 percent of industrial control system (ICS) vulnerabilities disclosed in the first half of 2020 can be exploited remotely.

Earlier this week we looked at how project files can be used to attack ICS systems even if they're air-gapped, but this report highlights the importance of protecting internet-facing ICS devices and remote access connections.

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In the new normal world where more work is being carried out remotely, corporate communications have increased in importance but they have also come under greater threat.

As the recent Twitter attack shows, communication tools offer hackers an attractive extra method of getting hold of sensitive information like login details.

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Microsoft rolled out an updated Windows 10 Start menu to Windows Insiders a month ago, and that menu is now available to all -- if you follow these instructions. The tweaked design removes the solid color backplates behind the logos and adds a translucent background to tiles.

However, it could be that bigger changes are afoot. In a video showcasing Microsoft’s new icon system the search giant also reveals a stunning new-look Start menu.

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USB-C docking stations are rather common these days. In fact, sites like Amazon are littered with countless makes and models. Of course, not all of them are good, nor are they all the same. Features can vary from dock to dock, such as the number of USB ports or video outputs.

Speaking of video output, most USB-C docks have either one or two such ports. Today, however, Plugable launches a docking station with three HDMI ports, and yes, they can all be used simultaneously for a triple monitor configuration. Despite having so many video outputs, it doesn't skimp on other useful ports.

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Almost half of all actions by attackers are identical to the normal activities of the users and admins, and in most companies even a low-skilled hacker can obtain control of the infrastructure.

These are among the findings of a new study from penetration testing specialist Positive Technologies. Testers, acting as internal attackers, managed to obtain full control of infrastructure at 23 tested companies usually within three days.

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Credential stuffing attacks rely on stolen account credentials from a previous breach and are usually perpetrated by bots in an attempt to gain access to other websites.

This is a major problem for businesses, with threat actors using as many as 65,000 IP addresses for a single attack. Now though identity platform Auth0 is launching a new Bot Detection feature that it claims can reduce the effectiveness of a credential stuffing attack by as much as 85 percent.

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If you're an Edge user who frequently has a large number of tabs open, Microsoft's decision to add the browser tabs to Alt-Tab switching creates something of a navigation nightmare.

When you have not only multiple browser tabs open, but also numerous applications, Alt-Tabbing your way through them can take an age. Thankfully it is possible to hide Edge tabs in Alt-Tab, or limit the number of tabs that are displayed so things don't get too overwhelming.

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With Internet Explorer having shown its age for a very long time, and with Microsoft pushing out the new Chromium-based version of Edge, it is little wonder that the company is ready to kill off its older browsers.

Microsoft has now set out its timetable for sunsetting legacy Edge in Windows 10 and the dropping of support for Internet Explorer. The changes start later this year, and in twelve months' time the process of moving on will be complete -- from Microsoft's point of view, at least.

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Beginning coders often learn quickly that the ability to simply code in a particular language is only half the battle. The ability to write clear and reliable code is a different story -- one that requires knowledge of best practices, attention to detail, and experience with reviewing and editing code to optimize it.

Typically, when code is completed for a certain portion of a project, it gets passed on to another person (or multiple people) for review, revision, and extension. With this being the case, keeping your code clear and logical is essential to allow other team members to work efficiently. So how do you write better code? While certain programming languages have their own unique best practices, there are some general guidelines that you can follow no matter if you write with Python, Ruby, JavaScript, or your own preferred programming language.

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By making Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro, Microsoft gave people a choice of operating system, but also caused some confusion. Just what is the difference between the two, and is it worth upgrading to Pro if your computer came with the Home edition installed?

Well the answer to the second question is a resounding yes! This is definitely a worthwhile upgrade -- and to show you why, we're going to highlight all of the extra features and options Pro includes. If you decide that you do want to upgrade to Windows 10 Professional, we have a special offer that will save you a lot of money. You can buy a genuine Windows 10 Pro license for just $39.99!

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Industrial control systems (ICS) are usually kept separate from internet facing and other business applications. But researchers at Claroty have discovered a way to exploit ICS project files as an attack vector.

The attack was demonstrated at the recent DEF CON conference. We asked Nadav Erez, Claroty's research team lead, to explain more about why these files are particularly attractive to attackers.

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Although reports of data breaches are down 52 percent in the first half of this year, the number of records exposed over the same period has soared to 27 billion.

The latest Data Breach Report from Risk Based Security shows 2,037 publicly reported breaches from January to June, a 52 percent decrease compared to the first six months of 2019 and 19 percent below the same time period for 2018.

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As systems move to the cloud, organizations are faced with the problem of safely managing access for third-parties and vendors.

Specialist in this field SecureLink is launching a new version of its SecureLink for Enterprises platform, introducing features to expand vendor privileged access management (VPAM) capabilities to the cloud and strengthen reporting.

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A couple months ago, MX Linux 19.2 was released. It's a really solid operating system that has been growing in popularity lately. The problem is, it uses Xfce for its desktop environment. While Xfce isn't bad, it isn't the most attractive DE -- it is designed with a bigger emphasis on being lightweight as opposed to having a lot of eye candy. For users with meager hardware, that is absolutely fine. However, for those with more powerful computers, there could be a feeling of disappointment by the ho-hum visuals.

Well, for those that love MX Linux 19.2 but want a more beautiful user interface, I have great news -- a KDE Edition of the operating system is now available for download. The distro uses KDE Plasma 5.14.5 and the Debian (AHS) 5.6 kernel. MX Linux 19.2 KDE comes with plenty of excellent software pre-installed too, such as GIMP 2.10.12, Mozilla Firefox 79, LibreOffice 6.1.5, VLC 3.0.11, and more.

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The August security updates for Windows 10 released by Microsoft last week are causing issues for people running the November 2019 Update (version 1909) and the May 2020 Update (version 2004).

Released last Patch Tuesday, 11 August, the KB4565351 and KB4566782 updates are causing various issues, ranging from failed installations, through error messages and BSoDs to problems with audio. For those experiencing installation issues, the following message has been reported: "There were some problems installing updates, but we'll try again later". Here's what you need to know.

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