Rest in peace, Fedora Linux 27

Fedora may be the best overall desktop Linux operating system, but it lacks Ubuntu in one major area -- support. You see, Canonical's distribution has "Long Term Support" versions, some of which now have an insane 10 years of support. Fedora, by comparison, only offers support for one month following two subsequent major releases. This can vary based on delays, but it will probably average a bit more than a year. For instance, Fedora 27 was released November 14, 2017, and Fedora 29 was released on October 30, 2018. This means as of today, November 30, Fedora 27 has reached… [Continue Reading]

Worth waiting for, I get satisfaction from Google Store

Part 3 of three. My six-week saga, where Google Store sent the wrong Pixel phones, is nearly over. I would like to thank the Advanced Support Technician team member who worked with me to end the drama and restore my (previous) confidence purchasing gadgets from the retailer. The generous solution minimizes any further complications and leaves me with a usable phone—with "Preferred Care" that I paid for correctly attached. Sometimes satisfaction is a process, rather than immediacy. To recap: The 128GB Clearly White Pixel 3 ordered on launch day arrived on Oct. 17, 2018 as a 128GB Just Black Pixel… [Continue Reading]

ET Live comes to Roku for free

If you are a fan of consuming media, Roku devices are some of the best values out there. Not only do these affordable little boxes have access to many paid music and video services, but many free ones as well. In other words, even even if you don't have any paid subscriptions, there are many free "channels" that offer quality entertainment -- no credit card needed. Today, Roku gains yet another free option -- ET Live. For those that enjoy celebrity and showbiz news, Entertainment Tonight is a great way to get your fix. Look, there's no need to be… [Continue Reading]

How cybersecurity systemization is changing financial institutions today

Cyberattacks are a global epidemic today. They target organizations, critical infrastructure, and governments around the world with timely, sophisticated attacks. Examples of this include ransomware attacks like Petya and WannaCry. These put some of the world’s most critical functions on hold for a while. Another example was the Equifax data breach that affected about 143 million Americans. With the persistence of these attacks many people believe that by 2021 cybercrime will cause $6 trillion in damages. What’s Behind Cybercriminal Activity Today Most cybercriminals are motivated by monetary rewards. With ransomware attacks cybercriminals target critical infrastructure and healthcare organizations, holding their… [Continue Reading]

Arlo Ultra is an outdoor 4K UHD wireless security camera system

Netgear's Arlo cameras are so popular, that earlier this year, the brand was spun into its own publicly traded company (Arlo Technologies). The success of Arlo is hardly a secret -- it offers quality products that people like. What a crazy concept! Today, Arlo announces an impressive outdoor wireless camera (that can also be used indoors). Called "Arlo Ultra," it offers 4K video streaming and recording. The weather-resistant UHD camera comes with the new Arlo SmartHub -- a wireless hub that serves as a range extender, but also, has a micro SD card slot for saving 4K video clips locally.… [Continue Reading]

Marriott's Starwood Hotel database hacked, putting 500 million customers at risk

Marriott International has revealed that its Starwood Hotel reservation database has been hacked. An investigation carried out by the company revealed that hackers have had unauthorized access to the Starwood network since 2014. The astonishing revelation means that information of half a billion guests could have been exposed -- including sensitive personal data such as home address and passport number -- and Marriott says there is evidence that data has been copied from its network. While Marriott says that it has taken steps to rectify the matter, this will be of little comfort to millions of customers whose details have… [Continue Reading]

Instagram's new Close Friends option lets you limit the audience for Stories

Instagram has announced the rollout of Close Friends, a feature that makes it possible to create a list of people with whom you'd like to share Stories. This is very different to the current approach which sees Stories shared with everyone. The feature has been beta tested for nearly a year and a half and is now ready for primetime. Rolling out to iOS and Androind in the coming days, the new feature will be welcomed by those who had concerns about privacy on Instagram. See also: Your Time On Facebook rolls out, revealing how much time you waste in… [Continue Reading]

DDoS attacks on eCommerce reach their highest levels over the Black Friday weekend

Cybercriminals are just as keen to exploit the holiday shopping boom as anyone else, with DDoS attacks on eCommerce providers increasing by over 70 percent on Black Friday compared with other days in November. On Cyber Monday, attacks increased by 109 percent compared with the November average. Cloud anti-DDoS company Link11 has released data showing several attacks observed during Black Friday and Cyber Monday were of up to 100 Gbps bandwidth, and the average attack volume on both days was just under 6Gbps. Attack volumes approaching 6Gbps far exceed the capacity of most websites. Link11 is warning online merchants, payment… [Continue Reading]

Best Windows 10 apps this week

Three-hundred-and-eleven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days. Microsoft is working on the next big patch for the rather bug-ridden October 2018 Update for Windows 10. The latest bug that Microsoft disclosed breaks Windows Media Player functionality. As always, if I've missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email. Discounts this week The following list is a selection… [Continue Reading]

Arrests made in Indian call centers responsible for Microsoft tech support scams

There are many annoyances associated with owning a computer -- spam emails, phishing attacks, viruses and online advertising to name but a few -- but technical support scams are among the most worrying. They take advantage of people's ignorance and/or better natures, posing as tech support operatives from big companies over the phone. Being one of the best-known technology companies in the world, it's little surprise that a huge number of these tech support scams purport to be Microsoft calling to offer help with computer problems. Such scams are responsible for conning people out of large amounts of money, but… [Continue Reading]

CHERRY launches compact MX Board 1.0 TKL mechanical keyboard for professionals

Mechanical keyboards can be great, but for a while, it felt like they were all designed for millennial gamers. Many of these keyboards look like futuristic alien devices -- chock full of multi-colored RGB lighting and textured WASD key caps. There's nothing wrong with that if you are a young gamer in his/her bedroom, but what if you are an adult professional that just wants a mechanical keyboard for typing? An appropriate product is much more elusive. Last week, Razer launched a mechanical keyboard designed for productivity, although it could still be used for gaming, of course. Today, famed manufacturer… [Continue Reading]

TIDAL comes to Plex

Hot on the heels of TIDAL arriving in the Microsoft Store for Windows 10 users, Plex has announced integration with the high-quality music service in its media tool. You don't need a paid-for Plex Pass to enjoy TIDAL in Plex, but there are special subscription deals available if you do have one. There's also no need to have a server set up -- you can access TIDAL from within the Plex apps. See also: Jay-Z's struggling TIDAL comes to Windows 10 through the Microsoft Store Plex launches beta version of Plex Web Shows offering on-demand streaming shows for free Plex… [Continue Reading]

Americans most worried about attacks on the financial sector

Americans are more worried about a cyberattack disrupting the financial and banking system than attacks against hospital/emergency services, voting systems or power grid/energy supply companies. This is among the findings of a survey by ESET to mark National Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month, which surveyed 1,500 Americans to discover their views on critical infrastructure attacks. It also finds that 58 percent of people say that they believe it is 'likely' that the US will suffer a large scale disruption on CI in the next two years and people are most worried about cyberattacks on the financial sector (26 percent)… [Continue Reading]

Latest AV-Test October 2018 report rates Malwarebytes as the poorest performing security suite

The entire point of purchasing a security suite is so you know it has your back. You want it to be assured the company has invested heavily in development to make sure it can counter the latest threats. German-based independent security institute AV-Test regularly tests the latest security suites, pushing them through a range of measures including performance against the latest threats, plus how they impact your system. You don’t want a security suite to slow your PC. The latest October 2018 report displays some interesting results. From our experience, and regular comments we read on our own posts, Malwarebytes… [Continue Reading]

Microsoft wins $480 million military AR contract -- US Army could purchase 100,000 HoloLens headsets

The US Army has revealed that Microsoft has won a contract worth $480 million to supply prototype augmented reality equipment. The deal could see the Army purchasing 100,000 HoloLens headsets from the company. Microsoft says the deal is an extension of its existing relationship with the Department of Defense. The company has previously faced criticism from its employees for bidding for military contracts, but it responded by saying it believed that those defending the US should have access to the best technology. Winning this latest contract -- the aim of which is to "increase lethality by enhancing the ability to… [Continue Reading]

Dell resets customer passwords following cyberattack on its website

Dell has announced that it has instigated a mandatory password reset for customers after it suffered a cyberattack earlier in the month. In a statement, the company confirmed that its network had been subject to "unauthorized activity" on November 9 in which attackers tried to gain access to customer information. Dell says that data was limited to names, email addresses and hashed passwords, adding there is "no conclusive evidence" that data was extracted. The forced password reset is described as a measure to "limit the impact of any potential exposure". Dell is giving very little away about the nature of… [Continue Reading]

Google Translate on the web gets improved looks and functionality

Google's products and services can be "hit or miss." For every revolutionary offering, such as Gmail or Maps, there are utter failures such as Google+ or Glass. I don't fault the search giant for failing, however, as I appreciate its risk-taking. One of the company's biggest successes is Google Translate. If you aren't familiar, it quite literally translates languages, helping people communicate the world over. Is it perfect? No, sometimes the translations are a bit muddied, but more often than not, the message is conveyed well enough. Today, Google announces big changes to Translate on the web. Not only is… [Continue Reading]