A $20 Wi-Fi camera? Yup! WyzeCam makes affordable home security a reality

I am a strong believer in home Wi-Fi security cameras. Being able to monitor my house while away is a godsend. Yeah, it is great for security purposes, but you know where else these products shine? Pets! Yeah, with one of these cameras, you can keep tabs on your dog, cat, bird, lizard -- whatever. If you are at work and want to check in on your pup or kitty, just launch an app and there they are. Unfortunately, these cameras can be expensive and difficult to set up. But, what if they weren't? What if there was a Wi-Fi… [Continue Reading]

The new Skype for Desktop 8 is here (whether you like it or not)

Keeping in touch with other users is essential for your business. We use Skype to keep in touch with contacts all over the world, from freelancers writers, through to key contacts. With this in mind, all we want is a relatively simple tool that enables us to perform our business without distractions. Sadly, Microsoft has made major changes to the Skype iOS and Android apps and those changes haven’t gone down well. Microsoft previewed the same changes in the desktop edition, a few months ago, and we quickly removed the preview. Now Microsoft has released the preview features as a standalone Skype… [Continue Reading]

Security worries delay migration to the cloud

Nearly a third of enterprises plan to increase their public cloud usage in the next 12 to 18 months, but the majority harbor significant concerns about cyber attacks and breaches in their hybrid environments. An international survey of 450 senior security and network professionals by security vendor AlgoSec reveals the greatest concerns about applications in the cloud are cyber attacks (cited by 58 percent) and unauthorized access (53 percent), followed by application outages and mis-configured cloud security controls. The biggest security management challenges in hybrid clouds are lack of visibility (cited by 63 percent of enterprises) and managing security policies… [Continue Reading]

Illicit code signing certificates worth more than passports on the dark web

Code signing certificates are used to verify the authenticity and integrity of software and are a vital element of internet and enterprise security. By taking advantage of compromised code signing certificates, cybercriminals can install malware on enterprise networks and consumer devices. A study for machine identity protection company Venafi by the Cyber Security Research Institute shows that digital code signing certificates are changing hands on the dark web for up to $1,200, making them worth more than credit cards, counterfeit US passports and even handguns. "We've known for a number of years that cyber criminals actively seek code signing certificates… [Continue Reading]

Process mining and robotic automation combine to drive digital transformation

Enterprises face many challenges when automating their processes, not least in identifying which have the most potential to benefit from the process. A new collaboration between robotic process automation (RPA) platform company, UiPath and leader in process mining, Celonis, lets customers automatically visualize and screen their processes for areas with highest automation potential, and subsequently, build, test, and deploy RPA in an accelerated and structured fashion. "UiPath is committed to delivering the most capable, agile and scalable RPA platform in the market," says Daniel Dines, CEO and founder of UiPath. "Working with Celonis, our vision is to dramatically accelerate process… [Continue Reading]

Microsoft will release Surface Pro with LTE Advanced in December

We've known for a while that a 4G LTE model is going be introduced in the Surface Pro range, and today, at the Future Decoded event in London, Microsoft officially announces when it will be available. Microsoft says that Surface Pro with LTE Advanced, as the new version is formally known as, will start shipping to business customers in December. It comes with global connectivity and fast transfer speeds, thanks a Cat 9 4G LTE modem. The modem inside Surface Pro with LTE Advanced supports 20 cellular bands and enables download speeds of up to 450Mbps. Microsoft claims that it's the… [Continue Reading]

Analysis uncovers more than 3,200 unique phishing kits

The people behind phishing attacks are always looking for ways to improve their profitability. They quite often re-use material by bundling site resources into a phishing kit, uploading that kit to a server and sending a new batch of emails. Sometimes though they get careless and leave the kits behind allowing them to be analyzed. Trusted access specialist Duo Security carried out a month-long experiment to track down these abandoned kits. Over the course of the study it found more than 3,200 unique phishing kits, tracked the actors behind the kits, identified kit re-use across sites and more. To create… [Continue Reading]

We've reached the cloud computing tipping point

Between technology waves there is always a tipping point. It’s not that moment when the new tech becomes dominant but the moment when that dominance becomes clearly inevitable. For cloud computing I think the tipping point arrived a month ago. That future is now. This is a big deal. My count of technical waves in computing may not agree with yours but I see (1) batch computing giving way to (2) timesharing which gave way to (3) personal computers which gained (4) graphical user interfaces, then became (5) networked Internet computers and (6) mobile computers embodied in smartphones and tablets,… [Continue Reading]

Top American banks have significant gaps in GDPR website compliance

GDPR affects all companies that engage with EU citizens, even if they have no physical presence in the EU, but a new study reveals that some major US firms still have websites that don’t comply. The research by digital threat management company RiskIQ looks at 25 of the 50 largest banks in the US (as of 2017) and finds significant security gaps in personally identifiable information (PII) collection. Per organization, RiskIQ has identified an average of 1,891 insecure login forms, 1,663 pages collecting PII insecurely, 1,326 EU first-party cookie violations and 1,265 EU third-party cookie violations. "PII discovery, inventory, and… [Continue Reading]

SteelSeries launches RGB tenkeyless 'Apex M750 TKL' mechanical gaming keyboard

Number pads are kind of dumb. Don't get me wrong, I am sure some people use them (for whatever reason), but I -- and many other consumers -- never do. Quite frankly, since you can buy a dedicated number keypad if you truly need it, why burden everyone with them just to please a small group of people? As a result, quite often, my keyboards are longer than they need to be. While that doesn't sound so bad, and yeah it isn't tragic, it is an annoyance since it takes up valuable desk space. Today, SteelSeries unveils a new "tenkeyless" (meaning… [Continue Reading]

Microsoft to end secret free Windows 10 upgrade offer by end of year

Microsoft officially pulled the plug on the free Windows 10 upgrade offer last year, but the truth is you can still get the new operating system free of charge if you know how. There are two main methods. You can either simply upgrade using a Windows 7 or 8.x key, or you can go through the assistive technologies page. The latter option lets anyone who claims to use assistive technologies to upgrade for free, and works on an honor system. You don’t need to actually prove you have any kind of disability to make use of it. Microsoft did say… [Continue Reading]

Office 365 subscribers get premium Outlook.com features

Even though its name suggests otherwise, Office 365 is more than a subscription for Microsoft Office. Sure, you do get the hugely popular suite, but you also get some other really cool perks, like 1TB of OneDrive storage. And, today, Microsoft is adding one perk more to the list. Outlook.com Premium, the paid plan that Microsoft officially introduced early this year, is now included in Office 365 Home and Personal subscriptions for free. Outlook.com Premium was previously available only as a standalone plan costing $19.95 a year. What exactly does it give you? Outlook.com Premium comes with four main features,… [Continue Reading]

How to link an iPhone or Android phone to a Windows 10 PC

Windows 10 Mobile is now officially dead, and Microsoft has switched its attention to Android and iPhone, releasing a growing number of apps for those operating systems. You can now also link your Android device or iPhone to any PC running Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, which will allow you to start a task on your phone, and then continue it on your PC. Here’s what you need to do. SEE ALSO: How to download Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and create your own installation USB flash drive or DVD How to upgrade your PC to the Windows 10 Fall… [Continue Reading]

Password cracking tool helps admins test security

Weak or reused passwords are a common cause of security breaches but are something that it’s hard for administrators to police. Intelligence-led security company FireEye is releasing a new password cracking tool to enable security professionals to test password effectiveness, develop improved methods to securely store passwords, and audit current password requirements. The main program is installed on a server, but a further 'worker' component means GoCrack is able to distribute its processing across CPUs and GPUs on networked machines via a simple to use web-based interface to create, view, and manage tasks. In order to protect sensitive password data,… [Continue Reading]

Four in five companies aim to change the way they manage IT security in the next year

According to a new study, 80 percent of businesses across the US and UK will change how they deal with security in the coming 12 months. The survey of more than 400 SMEs and enterprises by service management company SolarWinds MSP finds that 17 percent of companies intend to switch their current service provider in the next 12 months, 10 percent want to cease outsourcing in favour of in-house management, and 49 percent planning to outsource their security for the first time. For service providers this presents an opportunity. Businesses currently handling security internally but now wanting to outsource their… [Continue Reading]

Purism Librem 13 v2 privacy-focused Linux laptop -- great hardware, frustrating software [Review]

As a computer user in 2017, privacy is always on my mind -- as it should be. I suppose I have always cared about securing my information and data, but in recent years, we have learned so many troubling things about government hackers -- including the USA -- that it seems more important than ever. Patriot Edward Snowden really shone a light on the unfortunate state of privacy, or lack thereof, in modern days. This is why I was very intrigued by the Purism line of laptops. These are computers that are designed with privacy in mind. The Librem 13… [Continue Reading]

eBay launches Image Search option and AI-powered Find It On eBay tool

A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. When you're searching for something on eBay, it can be hard to find quite the right turn of phrase to track down precisely what it is you mean. To help overcome this problem, eBay has now launched a new Image Search option. The feature lets you take a photograph of an object -- or upload an image they already have --and use it to search for similar items that are for sale. This is just one of two new tools that eBay has launched to make it easier to find exactly… [Continue Reading]