Zoom for Mac has a security hole that means your webcam could be turned on without permission
Time to dig out the tape and cover up your webcam. The Mac version of the video conferencing tool Zoom has been found to have a flaw that enables a website to switch on your webcam without permission, and without notification.
Despite having been discovered and reported to Zoom by a security researcher three months ago, the vulnerability is yet to be patched. In fact, Zoom disagrees that there is a security issue, although it does say that users will be granted greater control over videos in an update due for release later this month.
Creative celebrates 30 years of Sound Blaster by launching AE-9 and AE-7 PCIe sound cards for audiophiles and gamers
Can you believe that Creative has been making Sound Blaster cards for 30 years? It's true! The year 2019 marks a 30th year for the company's revolutionary sound card brand. Way back in 1989 -- before some of you were born -- the Sound Blaster 1.0 card was released, and it changed everything. Quite frankly, in all these years, no company has come close to matching Creative's dominance in this market. True, sound cards have become less of a necessity and more of a luxury these days, but still, Creative remains king of the hill.
Wanting to celebrate this amazing milestone, Creative is launching two new cards -- The Sound Blaster AE-9 and AE-7. While both look very impressive, the former is the obvious flagship. All things considered, the Sound Blaster AE-9 is likely the best card the company has ever produced. Creative brags that AE-9 uses "CleanLine Technology," which will provide superior microphone clarity thanks to special noise-blocking circuitry -- great for podcasters, steamers, and musicians. The drool-worthy AE-9 even has upgradeable/removable OpAmps!
Can you hack my network? Why ethical hacking is essential for improving your security
Congratulations! You’ve selected and deployed a new cybersecurity solution. But, once you’re up and running you might not feel completely secure. Do you need to test your incident response process as much as testing the software? Does the new solution have vulnerabilities you -- or its creators -- don’t know about? Are there emerging attacks that it will miss?
If you want to know that a cybersecurity solution will do what you need it to do, and that you’re ready to respond to whatever it detects, you need to test it. Penetration testing ("pentesting") is a common part of deploying any new tool for cybersecurity, and it may help you identify and fix weaknesses in your defense. Pentesting can be automated through software, but that can lack the ingenuity of a live human trying to breach your system. The surefire way to simulate a real human attack is to enlist the service of a real human attacker -- subjecting your network and its cybersecurity defenses to "ethical hacking."
Cyber incidents cost $45 billion in 2018
Cybercriminals are getting better at monetizing their activities, with more than two million cyber incidents in 2018 resulting in over $45 billion in losses, with actual numbers expected to be much higher as many cyber incidents are never reported.
The Internet Society's Online Trust Alliance (OTA) has released a report which finds the financial impact of ransomware rose by 60 percent last year, and losses from business email compromise doubled, despite the fact that overall breaches and exposed records were down.
Firefox Quantum 68 and Firefox ESR 68 released with focus on add-on management improvements
Mozilla has released Firefox Quantum 68.0 for desktop, along with Firefox for Android 68.0 and Firefox ESR 68.0.
The new release promises improvements to extension discovery and security, improves dark mode in reader view, widens its protections against cryptomining and fingerprinting, and adds BITS update support for Windows, allowing Firefox to update even when the main application has been closed
Windows 1.11 and Windows Throwback now available to download
Last week Windows’ social accounts caused some excitement and confusion by announcing the arrival of Windows 1.0.
I correctly guessed that it was part of a Stranger Things tie-in because the newly launched season 3 of Netflix’s supernatural drama is set in 1985, the same year that Microsoft launched Windows 1.0. A new Windows 1.11 app briefly appeared over the weekend before being withdrawn, and it’s now back up and available for anyone to download. And that's not all.
Microsoft releases public preview of Desktop Analytics to help with Windows 10 update readiness checks
Microsoft has released a public preview of cloud-connected service Desktop Analytics.
Designed to help system administrators to keep Windows 10 devices up to date, Desktop Analytics integrates with System Center Configuration Manager. It allows for the quick and easy creation of app inventories to make compatibility checks simpler.
Kali Linux arrives on Raspberry Pi 4
Offensive Security has released Kali Linux for Raspberry Pi 4.
The new build of the security-focused distro comes just two weeks after the launch of the Raspberry Pi 4, the most powerful version of the mini-computer yet. Offensive Security says that the new build takes advantage of everything the Pi 4 has to offer.
Ubuntu-maker Canonical's GitHub account hacked
Canonical -- the company behind the Ubuntu Linux distro -- is investigating an attack on its GitHub account over the weekend.
On Saturday, hackers were able to break into Canonical's GitHub account and create a number of new repositories. Named CAN_GOT_HAXXD, the eleven repositories were empty and have now been removed. Canonical says that no source code was accessed, but it is not yet known who carried out the attack.
Seven out of 10 Brits want tougher penalties for breaching privacy rules
According to a new survey carried out by YouGov for data privacy company myGaru 71 percent of of UK adults want to see tougher action in penalizing companies that abuse data privacy by misusing third party data.
Around a third of the public (34 percent) have already made changes to the privacy settings of one or more of their social media accounts since the Cambridge Analytica Facebook scandal and 19 percent say they would make more or new changes in the future.
System76's USA-made and Ubuntu Linux-powered Thelio desktop now available with 3rd gen AMD Ryzen processors
Fans of Linux have long coveted System76 computers, as they come with Ubuntu pre-installed rather than Windows. After all, buying one of these computers is a great way to support the Linux community. Nowadays, in addition to Ubuntu, the company also offers its own Ubuntu-based operating system called Pop!_OS.
With the System76 "Thelio" desktop PC, even more people became interested in the company -- beyond Linux enthusiasts. Why? Because it is made right here in the good ol' USA. People that take pride in being an American often look for USA-made products (something that is getting increasingly harder to find), and System76 began filling that need.
Debian 10 'Buster' Linux-based operating system finally available for download
Debian is one of the most important operating systems, as so many other Linux distributions (such as Ubuntu) are based on it. In other words, it is part of the foundation that holds up many distros. With that said, it is a great operating system in its own right -- many folks depend on it daily.
Today, Debian reaches a significant milestone -- version 10. Yes, Debian is finally in the double digits. Believe it or not, development of Debian 10 (code-named "Buster") took more than two years! In fact, more than 60 percent of all packages have been updated since its predecessor. Probably the most significant update, however, is Wayland finally being the new default display server for the GNOME desktop environment.
Hands on with Windows 1.11, the Stranger Things tie-in you didn't know you needed (minor spoilers)
This week Microsoft has been teasing users across the web with a series of Windows 1.0 announcements. That operating system originally came out in 1985, and the latest season of Netflix’s Stranger Things is set in the same year, so there was never any doubt that the teasers and the show were linked in some way. But how?
On Friday Microsoft revealed we’d know the answer on Monday, but we now know exactly what’s coming -- Windows 1.11.
Microsoft's Windows 1.0/Stranger Things tie-in just got stranger
Microsoft has been running an amusing series of tweets on its Windows social accounts. It announced Windows 1.0 back on July 1, and then followed up it across the week with additional Windows 1.0 images and videos.
While some people, and some news sites, were seemingly confused by the move, it was clear from the start for a lot of us that it was a Stranger Things 3 tie in, seeing as the new season is set in 1985, the same year that Windows 1.0 arrived. But although each new tweet has made the link clearer, today’s one also includes an intriguing twist.
Mozilla set to offer ad-free browsing in Firefox for $5
Advertising is the lifeblood of many websites, but at the same time it is something that few people are fans of. To stave off income-killing ad-blockers, an increasing number of sites offer per-article or per-month subscriptions that give people the chance to enjoy content free of ads while still supporting the sites they love.
Mozilla has a different idea -- "Ad-free internet by Firefox". The result of a partnerships with multiple online publishers, the idea is that a single, low subscription fee gives you access to a number of sites with the ads removed.
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