Surprise, surprise! Microsoft exec says the government is spying on you

Intelligence agencies may have begun life as a good idea -- a way to keep their respective countries safe -- and in the beginning we mostly trusted them. But their overt secrecy soon became apparent with things like the famous Roswell incident and the best known "secret" location in the world -- Area 51.  But there’s much more to the secretiveness than just speculation of little green men. If we didn’t already suspect as much, Edward Snowden showed us a lot of what went on behind-the-scenes in these clandestine agencies.  All of these government branches have denied spying on US citizens, despite being contradicted by Snowden. However, James Clapper, when he… [Continue Reading]

A series of unfortunate events… Or more? What story the recent cybersecurity attacks could be telling

Recently there has been a dizzying number of major breaches disclosed within just months and sometimes weeks of each other. I’ve been paying close attention and doing a bit of research into the most recent data breaches, especially the more notable ones. The most recent heavily covered incident, the JBS hack, is already having an impact on the food industry. In the last seven months we have seen the following things happen: In December, there was a massive supply chain attack against SolarWinds. The attackers basically infiltrated SolarWinds, then put a backdoor, or Trojan, in files that make up key… [Continue Reading]

Five tips for optimizing your IT team's time

Today, IT teams are short-staffed and overworked like never before. And COVID-19 has made IT professionals busier than ever, with record numbers of people working from home and using more technology resources from remote locations. This can lead to additional projects and even more support issues. IT teams are constantly juggling between day-to-day maintenance activities and more strategic, long-term projects that can drive innovation and have a positive impact on an organization. In theory, it would be ideal to have 70 percent of a team’s time spent on strategic projects and 30 percent spent on daily maintenance tasks. In reality,… [Continue Reading]

T-Mobile REVVL V+ 5G Android 11 smartphone costs less than $200

Just yesterday I went to the Verizon store to investigate upgrading my aging iPhone 8 Plus. The company was offering a promotion where I could get an iPhone 12 Pro for free if I switch. While finally having a 5G iPhone excited me, Verizon's service was insanely expensive, so I passed on the "deal." While getting a $1,000 phone for free was tempting, it got me wondering why anyone would actually spend so much out of pocket on a smartphone. And now, today, T-Mobile launches a new 5G smartphone for only $199.99. Believe it or not, that is the retail… [Continue Reading]

Manufacturing and healthcare among top targets for phishing attacks

A new report from cloud email and collaboration specialist Avanan shows healthcare and manufacturing as two of the top industries being targeted by hackers in the first half of the year. The most attacked industries are IT, healthcare, and manufacturing. IT saw over 9,000 phishing emails in a one month span, out of an average of 376,914 total emails. Healthcare saw over 6,000 phishing emails out of an average of 451,792 total emails and manufacturing saw just under 6,000 phishing emails out of an average of 331,184 total emails. "With hospitals around the world being hit with ransomware attacks and… [Continue Reading]

20TB Aegis Fortress L3 SSD is the world's largest encrypted portable drive

Backing up files to the cloud makes a lot of sense -- you can access them from anywhere, and recover them in the event of your local computer storage being compromised, damaged or stolen. But while cloud backup is secure, it does require you to entrust your personal data to a third-party, and if you have personal or company files that you really don’t want falling into the wrong hands, then storing them on an encrypted drive could be a better -- and safer -- bet. Apricorn makes software-free, 256-bit AES XTS hardware-encrypted USB drives and today it’s announced its… [Continue Reading]

The Windows 11 release date is almost certainly in October

Microsoft may have announced Windows 11, and even released the first preview build, but the company has been somewhat vague about the release date. So far, all that has been said officially is that the operating system will be released in time for the holiday season -- although it seems that this is only for new systems, and upgrades from Windows 10 are due next year. But hints, rumors and leaks suggest that the launch date for Windows 11 will be in October this year, specifically October 20. Of course, Microsoft has not yet confirmed this, but all evidence is… [Continue Reading]

Check whether your computer can be upgraded to Windows 11 using Win11SysCheck

Is your computer up to the task of running Windows 11? To help you to find out, Microsoft released the PC Health Check app, updated it to make it more useful, but then pulled it for not being useful enough. So how can you check your system's compatibility with Windows 11 -- especially the TPM requirement? We've already written about WhyNotWin11 which does a great job, but you can also try Win11SysCheck, a great open source utility that gives you a straight yes or no, along with helpful information if the answer is negative. See also: Does Windows 11 really… [Continue Reading]

How attackers can manipulate social media recommendations

Recommendations based on AI are something we encounter all the time. From shopping sites, streaming services and social media we're constantly shown stuff that the AI thinks we'll like. But how easy would it be for an attacker to manipulate these recommendations to promote conspiracy theories or spread disinformation? Andy Patel, a researcher with cyber security company F-Secure's Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence, recently completed a series of experiments to learn how simple manipulation techniques can affect AI-based recommendations on a social network. Patel collected data from Twitter and used it to train collaborative filtering models (a type of machine… [Continue Reading]

Tour technology: It's a lot more than bike and rider these days

When cycling grand tours were first getting started more than one hundred years ago, things were a whole lot different. Bike frames and hardware hailed mostly from Italy and, while that hasn’t completely changed, riders no longer cover 300 miles in a stage, have to take naps during a stage, change their own tires or, as happened on at least once occasion, stop to weld a broken frame along the way.  Now stages are a manageable four to seven hours and cars and motorcycles follow the peloton, bringing doctors, mechanics and spare bikes.  Other things have changed as well. Despite… [Continue Reading]

Move quickly to grab this PDF editor for Windows for free!

People with iPhones or Android handsets are used to the idea of discounted apps in their respective app stores. While the same concept exists in the Microsoft Store for Windows 10 apps, it is something that tends to get rather less attention. But at the moment, there is an interesting PDF tool available completely free of charge. You will have to move quickly if you want to get PDF Manager for free though; this special offer is over in just a few days. See also: Does Windows 11 really need TPM? Perhaps not... You're not going to get a Windows… [Continue Reading]

Microsoft releases KB5004760 update to fix PDF problems in Windows 10

Microsoft has released an out-of-band update for Windows 10 that remedies a PDF opening issue. Available for Windows 10 version 2004, 20H2 and 21H1, the KB5004760 update may not seem like particularly important one, but Microsoft deemed it of enough import to release it off schedule. You will, however, have to go out of your way to find it if you need it. See also: Does Windows 11 really need TPM? Perhaps not... You're not going to get a Windows 11 upgrade until next year WhyNotWin11 is a better Windows 11 compatibility checker Microsoft has chosen not to push this… [Continue Reading]

Satechi launches USB-C stand and hub for Apple Mac mini with integrated SSD enclosure

Apple Silicon -- better known as the company's own "M1" processor -- is a game-changer. The new Mac computers (MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini) powered by this new ARM-based processor have been very well received by critics and consumers alike. I was personally fascinated by this new CPU, so I purchased my own 2020 Mac mini. Guess what, folks? The hype is real. The performance is exceptional while the fan almost never kicks in. It is a silent and powerful computing experience. It is a highly recommended computer. While the Mac mini is wonderful, it is certainly not perfect. Case… [Continue Reading]

Microsoft releases PowerToys v0.41.3 with lots of improvements and a new utility

Microsoft has pushed out two new PowerToys builds in very quick succession, fixing lots of issues, making numerous improvements, and adding a brand new utility. The bulk of the changes came in PowerToys v0.41.2, but this was followed mere hours later by PowerToys v0.41.3 because of a compatibility issue with BitDefender. The latest build is interesting not just because of the number of changes it includes, but also the arrival of the new tool called Awake. See also: Does Windows 11 really need TPM? Perhaps not... You're not going to get a Windows 11 upgrade until next year WhyNotWin11 is… [Continue Reading]

Google Cloud and Ericsson team up to deliver 5G and edge

In a bid to help communications service providers (CSPs) digitally transform, and to unlock new enterprise and consumer use cases, Google Cloud and Ericsson have announced a partnership to jointly develop 5G and edge cloud solutions. The two companies are working together to develop new solutions at Ericsson's Silicon Valley D15 Labs, a state-of-the-art innovation center where advanced solutions and technologies can be developed and tested on a live, multi-layer 5G platform. "Organizations have a tremendous opportunity to digitally transform their businesses with 5G and cloud capabilities like artificial intelligence and machine learning at the edge," says Thomas Kurian, CEO… [Continue Reading]

Only 54 percent of businesses have a properly documented disaster plan

A new survey finds that only 54 percent of respondents at US businesses employing 500 or more staff have a documented, company-wide disaster recovery plan in place. The study from hosting and services provider iland also finds that DR testing frequency is very low. Just 50 percent are testing only annually or at less frequent intervals, while seven percent don't test their DR at all. Of those testing less frequently, half say their disaster recovery plan may be inadequate based on their most recent DR test, while 12 percent have encountered issues that would result in sustained downtime. An additional… [Continue Reading]

Dell UltraSharp Webcam is the ultimate 4K videoconferencing camera

Yeah, COVID-19 changed the world -- we all know this. But nothing changed more than office work environments. Even as the pandemic slowly fades away, many employees are still working from home, with no plans to ever return to a physical office. And so, videoconferencing is more crucial than ever before. With all of that said, if your webcam is of poor quality, it can reflect on you negatively. Look, it may not be your fault, but a grainy video feed is akin to going into an in-person meeting with a big stain on your shirt. In other words, investing… [Continue Reading]