The new Chromium-based version of Microsoft Edge has generated a good deal of attention, and an intriguing feature of the browser has been noticed that makes it all the more interesting.

It has been noted that Edge switches between user agents depending on the sites visited, effectively pretending to be a different web browser. This enables Edge to take advantage of web sites features designed for a specific browser.

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A few days ago, a security vulnerability in Internet Explorer came to light. A flaw in the handling of certain files can be exploited by hackers to steal files from users, and -- most worrying -- it doesn't matter whether the victim is an Internet Explorer user or not.

Microsoft is yet to create a fix for the vulnerability, so someone else has stepped up to the plate. Specialists from ACROS Security have create a micropatch for Windows 10 that addresses the issue, once again beating Microsoft in securing people's computers.

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The Internet Society's Online Trust Alliance (OTA), which identifies and promotes online security and privacy best practices, announced today the results of its latest Online Trust Audit and Honor Roll.

The Audit finds that 70 percent of analyzed websites qualified for the Honor Roll, the highest proportion ever, and up from 52 percent in 2017, driven primarily by improvements in email authentication and session encryption.

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UK watchdog the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has put forward new proposals it believes will help to improve the safety of children online. Among the recommendations is the suggestion that Facebook and other social media sites should disable "like" functionality for minors.

The ICO's "Age Appropriate Design" consultation document is a code of practice for online services, and includes proposals such as minimum age checks and an increase in privacy settings for minors. Another suggestion in the 16-point set of proposals is that social media firms limit the collection of personal data about under-18s.

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A zero-day exploit found in Internet Explorer means hackers could steal files from Windows users. What's particularly interesting about this security flaw is that you don't even need to be an Internet Explorer user to be vulnerable.

A security researcher has revealed details of an unpatched exploit in the way IE handles MHT files, and the problem affects Windows 7, Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012 R2. It leaves users vulnerable not only to having their files stolen by hackers, but also means they could be spied upon.

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Thomas White, the founder of notorious website Silk Road 2.0, has been jailed for five years and four months by a UK court.

White, also known as Dread Pirate Roberts 2, was charged with not only running Silk Road 2.0 -- the site through which he earned hundreds of thousands of dollars per day on the dark web -- but also the possession of hundreds of indecent images of children.

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Mozilla has added new protective features to the nightly and beta versions of Firefox. Through a partnership with Disconnect, the browser is now able to block cryptocurrency mining and fingerprinting scripts.

The new features mean that users are protected against scripts that can be used to track them online, as well as those that use CPU cycles to mine for cryptocurrency. Mozilla says it is part of its mission to protect people from "threats and annoyances on the web".

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Cybersecurity company BullGuard is launching its own VPN for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS, intended to make it simple for users to ensure their online privacy.

Designed to be easily used across multiple devices, BullGuard VPN features a simplified user interface and quick connect functionality, enabling consumers to fly under the radar and surf the internet in stealth mode while retaining complete anonymity via military-grade encryption.

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There has been talk of a Chromium-based version of Microsoft Edge for a while, and now Microsoft has finally released the browser to those willing to take part in the Insider program.

While it's early days for this new version of Edge, there is already the Microsoft Edge Insider Addons website to investigate, but you may also want to experiment with settings. One such setting is dark mode -- something which has proved very popular in all sorts of apps. Here's how to enable it.

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The first official builds of Chromium-based version of Microsoft Edge are now available to download, and Microsoft has also launched the Microsoft Edge Insider Addons website.

Anyone using the standard, non-Insider version of the browser is probably familiar with the addons and extensions that are available from the Microsoft Store for Edge. But with the new Chromium version of Edge, the new website gives an easy way to extend the capabilities of the Dev and Canary builds.

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However much you love your chosen web browser, you have probably enhanced its capabilities through the use of add-ons. Finding decent, reliable add-ons can be tricky, and this is why Mozilla is launching the Recommended Extensions program.

This editor-curated program will surface the very best vetted extensions for Firefox, and it is due to roll out in stages later this summer.

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The UK is looking at hitting technology companies with financial penalties if they fail to do enough to counter "harmful content" on their platforms.

Jeremy Wright, the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) secretary, says that tech firms need to be made to "sit up and take notice" when it comes to dealing with problematic content. While clearly aimed more at social media companies, the proposals would encompass other technology firms as well. The plans also suggest that search engines should remove links to offending websites, and that some sites could even be blocked completely.

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Reddit has never been much of a stranger to controversy, and the site has faced mounting pressure from copyright-holders to do something about piracy.

Moderators have been fighting a losing battle to keep illegal content in check, but with complaints still flooding in, the /r/piracy subreddit is taking drastic action. Having spoken to the community about initiating "The Nuclear Option", the decision was taken to delete nearly a decade's worth of content.

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Online privacy has become such a concern that VPN tools -- once used only by technology experts -- have now started to become far more mainstream. Android users can take advantage of Opera's built-in VPN, and there are many other services to choose from.

Adding to this list, Cloudflare has announced a new free VPN service called Warp. It will become part of the company's existing privacy-focused 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver, and just as 1.1.1.1 was designed to simplify using a DNS tool, so Warp is being billed as a "VPN for people who don't know what V.P.N. stands for".

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It seems hard to believe, but Gmail has now been with us for 15 years. To celebrate a decade-and-a-half of existence, Google has added a handful of new and improved features to it.

Smart compose has been updated and expanded to more devices and languages, and it has also been made smarter with AI-powered personalization. But the star of the show is email scheduling, something people have been asking for for years. Here's how to use it.

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