Watch President Donald Trump announce his Supreme Court nominee on Facebook Live

In the United States, the most prestigious position is president. Some people might think vice president is the next important position, but it arguably is not. Actually, some folks, including yours truly, consider Supreme Court Justice to be a more important position than VP. After all, the decisions of these justices can have a huge impact on the country. There is currently an empty seat in the Supreme Court, due to the death of Justice Scalia. President Trump has the duty of nominating someone to fill this vacancy. Many political insiders are pointing to either Neil Gorsuch or Thomas Hardiman as the pick,… [Continue Reading]

Microsoft is working hard to make Edge a great browser -- but is it too late?

Bundling Internet Explorer in Windows 95 was enough for Microsoft to win the "browser wars" and consign Netscape to history, but a lot has changed since then. Bundling Edge in Windows 10 has had negligible effect on Chrome and Firefox’s dominance. After a year and a half, Microsoft Edge still only has a little over 5 percent share, according to NetMarketShare. It didn’t help that Edge was only partially baked when Windows 10 debuted. Why swap your existing browser for one missing core features and with a far-from intuitive interface? (How to change the default search engine in Microsoft Edge… [Continue Reading]

Google Chrome for Apple iOS is now open source

There is a curious phenomenon on iOS -- Google's apps are often better on Apple's mobile operating system than on Android. It is for this reason that users of the search-giant's services can be perfectly content using an iPhone or iPad. Google Chrome is a very popular web browser on iOS, with many folks choosing it over Safari. I prefer Apple's own browser, but I digress. The Chrome browser is largely open source, as it is based own the Chromium project -- except for the iOS variant, that is. Today, for the first time ever, the iPhone and iPad version of… [Continue Reading]

How to stop Windows 10 automatically rebooting after updates

Windows 10, like previous versions of Microsoft’s operating system, often needs to reboot to action an update, and will occasionally do so at the least appropriate moment -- as this pro-gamer can testify. While Windows 10 updates are mandatory, you can control (to a degree) when they install, and more importantly if and when Windows 10 restarts afterwards. The first thing to do is to make sure Active Hours are set -- this will stop Windows 10 rebooting at a time when you are likely to be using your computer. To set this up, go to Start > Settings >… [Continue Reading]

StarTech launches USB-C Multi-Card Reader for photographers, videographers, and more

USB-C is lighting the world on fire. While Apple was not the first company to embrace the standard, its MacBook Pro is definitely a driving force in its increased popularity. There is a huge market nowadays for USB-C hubs and dongles. Heck, I just wrote about an all-new USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter from SCOSCHE. Today, StarTech launches the USB-C Multi-Card Reader. This dongle is strictly for card-reading, offering compatibility with SD, micro SD, and CompactFlash. Many all-in-one Type-C dongles offer compatibility with SD and its micro variant, but CF is more of a rarity. StarTech is clearly targeting professional photographers, many of… [Continue Reading]

SCOSCHE unveils USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter for MacBook Pro and other devices

While I am a regular Fedora Linux and Windows 10 user, I also want to be proficient in macOS. And so, last year, I bought a MacBook Pro. This is my first-ever laptop from Apple, and so far, I love it. The problem, however, is that it only has USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports. For the most part, this is fine -- I rarely connect things physically in 2017. When I do have a need to connect a Type-A USB flash drive or HDMI monitor, however, I must turn to dongles. There are an overwhelming number of USB-C dongles on the market nowadays,… [Continue Reading]

2016's top malware threats show a shift in attack patterns

The methodology of malware and cyber attacks has shown a significant shift in 2016, according to the State of Malware report from Malwarebytes. Although ransomware is the favorite attack method used against business, ad fraud malware is growing fast and poses a substantial threat to both consumers and businesses. The report shows ransomware distribution between January 2016 and November 2016 increased by 267 percent. In the fourth quarter of 2016 nearly 400 variants of ransomware were cataloged by Malwarebytes. Ransomware detections accounted for 12.3 percent of all enterprise threats, but only 1.8 percent of consumer threats, and 81 percent of… [Continue Reading]

Twitter will finally roll out 'long overdue' fixes to tackle harassment

Twitter's trolling and harassment problem is not going away, and the company has long-promised to do more to tackle the issue. In a series of tweets, Twitter's vice president of engineering Ed Ho has revealed that action is finally to be taken. While he does not go into detail about exactly what Twitter's plan is, he says that more will be revealed as the tools roll out this week. Importantly, he reveals in addition to changes to muting and blocking, the new measures will include steps to prevent repeat offenders from simply creating new accounts if they are blocked. Saying… [Continue Reading]

New intelligence platform aims to cut credential-based risks

Many cyber attacks are made using stolen or abused credentials. One of the ways to combat this is to collect activity data and use it to spot anomalous behavior patterns. Leader in this field Exabeam is launching its new Security Intelligence Platform, designed to decrease the risk of cyber threats for organizations of any size. It addresses the need to collect more data than ever before, to make better connections across that data to detect threats, and to augment human analysts during incident response. "Data breaches are now affecting national political and economic systems, and the technologies that have been… [Continue Reading]

Microsoft Teams has 30,000 business customers -- but is it a serious threat to Slack yet?

Microsoft Teams, Slack's latest high-profile rival, is slowly gaining traction. The software giant has announced that 30,000 organizations, spread across 145 markets, "actively used" the collaboration service in the past month. It launched in late-November. Where are those 30,000 customers coming from? Well, since Microsoft Teams is part of Office 365 that means that the users the collaboration service has are first and foremost Office 365 subscribers -- and there are 85 million active users there. That gives it huge potential for growth. Microsoft Teams can be easily activated by Office 365 administrators, but it is important to note that this… [Continue Reading]

Comodo extends endpoint protection to Mac and Linux

Businesses are increasingly aware of the need to protect their endpoint systems. However, they tend to concentrate most of their efforts on Windows which can leave other platforms vulnerable. Cyber security specialist and digital certificate provider Comodo is launching a new version of its Advanced Endpoint Protection (AEP) product that extends availability of its default-deny endpoint security to Mac and Linux platforms, in addition to Windows. Comodo AEP offers a complete endpoint protection platform using multiple security technologies, including anti-virus, host-based intrusion prevention system (HIPS), web filtering, personal firewall, white/blacklisting and Secure Auto-Containment. It also provides management and reporting in… [Continue Reading]

Bing Wallpaper updates your desktop with Bing's image of the day

Bing Wallpaper is an open-source application which sets your wallpaper as Bing’s image of the day, then keeps it up-to-date. Download, unzip and run BingWallPaper.exe and it immediately updates your wallpaper, displays a notification and minimizes to your system tray. Right-clicking Bing Wallpaper’s system tray icon displays the image copyright message, and clicking this opens your default browser with the result of a related search. Our desktop wallpaper was a picture of a giant barrel cactus, for instance, and the search was for its species name, "Echinocactus platyacanthus", leading us to more images and information. Leave it running and the… [Continue Reading]

Tenable launches cloud-based vulnerability management

Increased adoption of virtualization, the cloud, and the accelerating use of web applications and short-lived assets like containers has led to changes in how and when companies need to assess vulnerabilities. Cyber security firm Tenable Network Security is launching a new cloud-based vulnerability management platform to enable enterprises to secure the full range of assets in modern elastic IT environments. Called Tenable.io it offers asset tracking using an advanced fingerprinting algorithm to pinpoint the true identity of each resource -- even dynamic assets like laptops, virtual machines and cloud instances. This allows customers to better understand the true state of… [Continue Reading]

Parallels launches Toolbox for Mac 1.5 -- here's what's new

Parallels Toolbox is a macOS app for power users that provides easy access to dozens of utilities -- like camera controls, screenshot options, archiving and more -- from the menu bar. Now, there is new version available and it comes with three changes designed to improve the user experience. Toolbox 1.5 adds the option to drag and drop tools, capture audio from the Mac, and change the sources for the camera and microphone. Let's take a closer look at the latest changes. More specifically, the addition of drag and drop for tools means that you can now place utilities in… [Continue Reading]

LEGO Life is a safe social network that lets kids show off their creations

Who doesn't love LEGO? Well... apart from parents who find themselves standing on the little plastic bricks in bare feet, that is! One of the joys of LEGO is not just that it lets kids -- young and old -- get creative, and it's great to share your creations. With this in mind, LEGO has created a new social network designed for kids. Unlike Facebook and other older social networks, LEGO Life is designed for under-13s and there is a strong focus on security and anonymity. While users are able to communicate with each other, they are restricted to using… [Continue Reading]

The Big Shift in IT Leadership -- free ebook from Wiley

The IT world has undergone some major changes in recent years, but in many cases management hasn't kept up with what's happening, leaving enterprises struggling to keep up with the competition. IT leaders need to understand how they can use resources effectively to drive business growth, find the right talent and ultimately increase profitability. A new ebook, The Big Shift in IT Leadership from Wiley, is aimed at helping managers lead their teams and ensure they use technology effectively for business growth. BetaNews readers can get hold of a copy (worth $30) for free by visiting this page and entering… [Continue Reading]

Facebook launches new open source account recovery tool: Delegated Recovery

At the USENIX Enigma conference, Facebook unveiled a new way to overcome the problem of forgotten passwords. Known as Delegated Recovery, the mechanism essentially allows two online services a user has accounts with to be used as a form of two-factor authentication. Delegated Recovery is something of a new take on 2FA, building on Facebook's previously announced support for U2F Security Keys. The problem with password recovery via email or SMS, is that it's easy for the recovery medium to be compromised, and security questions are easily guessed. Delegated Recovery takes a new approach, and it's being trialed on GitHub.… [Continue Reading]