Latest Technology News

Kingston unveils A2000 NVMe PCIe SSD

Today, Kingston announces a new NVMe solid state drive, called "A2000," and unfortunately, it isn’t too exciting. Don’t get me wrong, it is plenty fast, but hardly the fastest.

Here’s the thing, folks, PCIe 4.0 drives will soon be flooding the market, and this new model from Kingston still uses the older PCIe 3.0. With that said, most computers do not support PCIe 4.0, so consumers largely can’t take full advantage of an SSD using that new standard anyway.

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Reason Antivirus: When privacy is your priority [Review]

When was the last time you shopped around for a new antivirus? If you're a Windows user and using its latest iteration, you might be quite satisfied with how Windows Defender works. Besides, it comes as default with the operating system and runs unobtrusively in the background, no added setup required.

However, cyberattacks are only growing more rampant and hackers are finding new ways to victimize computer users. And for ordinary users, it's our privacy that's under threat. Hackers look to gain access to our devices to steal data. It's not just our personal and financial information they're after. Hackers are also trying to hack into webcams and microphones hoping to capture anything sensitive and incriminating in order to extort victims.

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6 design principles for machine learning anomaly detection systems

machine learning AI

Every year, 22 percent of eCommerce customers abandon their shopping carts due to website errors. Every year, insurance companies discharge up to 10 percent of their claims cost on fraudulent claims. Network outages cost up to $5,600 per minute. These and other failures represent anomalies that are detectable by machine learning in ways that human-powered monitoring can’t replicate.

When it comes to deploying a machine learning anomaly detection system, companies have the choice of either purchasing a ready-made system or developing their own. No matter what they choose, however, the resulting system should be based on criteria that account for their company’s size, needs, use cases and available resources. Here are the six principles that companies should pay attention to:

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The evolution of Emotet: How to protect your network

Trojan horse

With over 350,000 new malware samples emerging every day, it’s difficult for any one strain of malware to make a name for itself. Any single malware sample whose name you know -- be it Mirai, WannaCry, or NotPetya -- speaks to a trail of devastation.

In 2019, people are also hearing another name: Emotet.

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Second quarter sees an 18 percent rise in DDoS attacks

DDoS attack

In the second quarter of 2019, the total number of DDoS attacks grew by 18 percent, compared to the same period in 2018 according to a new report from Kaspersky.

There is, however, a drop compared to the first quarter of this year, with attacks down 44 percent. Kaspersky attributes this to seasonal variation with DDoS attack usually declining in late spring and summer.

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A disturbing lack of outrage about the E3 Expo leak

data leak tap

Why don’t I feel bad? I know I should. I know I ought to be alarmed by the news that the organizers of the E3 Expo accidentally leaked the personal or professional contact details for some two thousand registered journalists and members of the media.

But I’m not. In fact, I’m ambivalent about the whole thing. As an early victim of some malicious "doxxing" -- by a fellow tech journalist, no less -- I’ve become a bit jaded about the matter (having satellite images of your house posted online so freaks can target your children will do that to you).

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These are the Apple Card restrictions you need to know about

Apple Card

Apple Card is due to launch later this month and there are a few restrictions associated with Apple's predictably-named credit card.

The Apple Card Customer Agreement document drawn up by backing creditor Goldman Sachs shows that it cannot be used to buy cryptocurrencies. Additionally, the iPhone-based digital version of the credit card cannot be used on jailbroken devices.

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When did computers get smarter than us?

There are few aspects of our everyday lives that don’t now rely on computers at some level. But does this reliance on technology mean that the machines are getting smarter than we are?

Server and network monitoring specialist CloudRadar has put together an infographic examining our reliance on technology.

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Cloudflare terminates 8chan over links to mass shootings

Cloudflare

Cloudflare has announced that it is terminating its services with controversial site 8chan. The move comes after the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.

There have been numerous calls for 8chan to be taken offline in the past, and Cloudflare has previously considered removing its protective services from the site. What has now tipped the company's decision is the fact that the shooter at El Paso "appears to have been inspired" by 8chan, and even posted a racist manifesto on the site.

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Facebook is renaming WhatsApp and Instagram

WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram

Being such globally recognized names, you would think that a rebranding of WhatsApp and Instagram would be a crazy exercise... but that's precisely what Facebook is doing.

In a move that is more than a little surprising -- and, many would argue, somewhat pointless -- the social networking giant is to rename the two products Instagram from Facebook and WhatsApp from Facebook. The renaming will make it clear that the company people love to hate is behind the chat and social networking tools.

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How to opt out of Amazon listening to what you say to Alexa

There have been privacy concerns about digital assistants for just about as long as there have been digital assistants, and the recent confirmation that Google and Apple were listening to Assistant and Siri conversations has done nothing to allay fears.

The 'were' in that last sentence is important, as both companies have agreed -- at least temporarily -- to cease the practice. Not wanting to miss out on an opportunity for good PR, Amazon is getting in on the action, giving Alexa users the chance to opt out of having their conversations with its digital assistant listened to -- or "manually reviewed", as Amazon would prefer. Here's how to do just that.

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Leaked: download the Microsoft Edge for Mac beta

Big Microsoft Edge logo

Microsoft continues with the development of Edge, and a new leak gives Mac users a chance to see what the company is doing with the web browser for their preferred operating system.

Renowned leaker WalkingCat has provided a download link to an unreleased beta version of the Mac build of Microsoft Edge. As it's a beta that hasn't been released to official channels, there are possible stability issues, but it serves as a chance to try out the latest Chromium-base version of Edge for Mac.

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Amazon Dash buttons get chucked on the scrap heap this month

Amazon Dash button

The much-maligned Dash button from Amazon is being killed off for good. Having previously announced that they were being discontinued, Amazon has announced that as of the end of this month, it will no longer be possible to place orders via a physical Dash button.

This does not mean that the Dash ordering service is ceasing completely -- it will continue to exist in the form of virtual Dash button that can be accessed from a range of devices.

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Gridlocked! Imagining the aftermath of an OTA cyberattack on connected vehicles

Twenty percent. A fifth. One in five. That’s how many stalled cars it would take to completely gridlock the Island of Manhattan in New York City. And according to a recent study from Georgia Tech on the impact of a large scale cyberattack against connected vehicles, that’s the more optimistic number. It could go even lower when you factor in traffic flow from side streets and the human propensity towards panic when we feel trapped or boxed in.

Basically, it would be the world’s worst traffic jam, with even emergency vehicles unable to move. And it would all start with a massive, system-wide attack against the Over the Air (OTA) software update mechanisms present in many modern, highly connected cars -- like those made by Tesla.

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Best Windows 10 apps this week

Three-hundred-and-forty-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Microsoft Store in the past seven days.

Microsoft released a new Windows 10 20H1 build this week that includes traces of a new cloud download feature. The feature adds an option to the PC reset troubleshooting process to download operating system files from Microsoft servers during resets. Windows 10 currently uses the Windows installation for that.

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