The Tour de France starts Saturday and you can watch it on your mobile

Not to be overshadowed by the World Cup, this Saturday professional cycling's biggest event kicks off. The season may run February to October, but nothing compares to the month of July. That's when the world's best gather in France -- well England this time, at least for a couple of days -- to participate in the spectacle that is the Tour de France.

While almost 200 riders take to the starting line, very few have a real shot at winning the race -- it takes all-around skill, including climbing, time trialing, and staying out of trouble in general, as accidents have ruined the chances of favorites many times.

If you want to watch every stage live right on your mobile device, then NBC has an app that will allow you to keep up with all of the action. NBC Tour de France Live is now available for iPad, iPhone and Android.

According to the description in the Google Play store, "Experience the 2014 Tour de France like never before…watch every stage LIVE on your Android handheld or tablet device. And track the peloton in real-time with interactive maps and profiles. It’s as close as you can get to the Tour without a passport".

It's not particularly cheap, selling for $14.99, but that's really not bad for three weeks of action. Each stage generally lasts between three and six hours, so you'll be getting your money's worth on this deal. You can grab a copy for yourself for Android, iPhone or iPad. The only thing you need to do after that is make your prediction for the eventual winner. Will Britain's Chris Froome repeat? Can the young American Tejay Van Garderen make a run at the title? We won't know until things conclude on the Champs Elysees in Paris.

Secryptor Basic offers cross-platform file encryption with a Dropbox twist

Privacy’s a big thing nowadays, and with the US government in particular leaning on big businesses to make it easier for user’s private data to be shared, you’ve a right to feel uneasy. Whether you’re looking to encrypt files on your PC or even add another layer of encryption to files before uploading them to the cloud or sharing via email, a raft of free tools are emerging to help you do just that.

One of the latest to hit the market -- albeit in somewhat unfinished form -- is a free tool for Mac and PC called Secryptor Basic 1.0.

Secryptor offers a relatively simple tool for encrypting and decrypting files using 256-bit AES encryption. At its most simple level, you select a file from your hard drive, add a password and Secryptor will produce an encrypted copy, sporting its own .skt file extension.

That on its own isn’t particularly remarkable -- tools like Quick Crypt do the same, and much more besides. However, Secryptor does have some additional tricks up its sleeve to tempt you. The first is the free companion iOS app that allows you to download, decrypt and view content on your iPhone or iPad.

The second is direct integration with Dropbox, allowing you -- in theory -- to directly encrypt and upload files to your Dropbox folder. From here, Secryptor generates an ID code you can email to a trusted contact (communicate the password separately) who can then easily recover the original file using Secryptor’s decryptions tools.

We say "in theory" because while the feature works flawlessly on PC, we had problems using it on the Mac -- this could be down to the fact the program still feels unfinished, despite its 1.0 release status. The Windows setup file is all in German, while the Mac versions continues to use German on dialog boxes even after you’ve switched language to English.

Even in its early state, however, Secryptor shows promise, particularly for those with Dropbox accounts and the need to securely access files via iPhone or iPad. However, PC users should also check out the aforementioned Quick Crypt and AxCrypt, to name but two alternatives, to see which one best meets their needs.

In the meantime, Secryptor Basic 1.0 is available now as a free download for PCs running Windows 7 or later as well as Mac and iOS. An Android version is also due imminently.

The top 10 data breaches and how they happened

Security breaches happen all the time but it's the biggest ones that hit the headlines and send ripples through the IT community. Security consultancy TSC Advantage has looked at the top ten breaches from the last five years and what effect they've had.

Top of the list is the Adobe hack of 2013, made possible by weak password requirements and affecting 152 million customers. In second place comes the recent eBay hack involving stolen employee credentials and affecting 145 million users.

We go back to 2009 for the number three slot and the Heartland Payment Systems attack which exposed the payment card information of 130 million customers. In fourth place is our old friend Target and the 2013 attack that exposed the data of 110 million customers and cost an estimated $420 million.

Fifth is the 2010 attack against Google by Chinese hackers which exposed the identities of Chinese Gmail accounts that were under surveillance. In sixth comes the 2011 Epsilon attack which exposed customer names and addresses and led to the payment of $225 million in damages.

The 2011 Sony attack that left the Playstation Network down for 23 days takes seventh slot, followed in eighth by the US Department of Veterans hack in 2009 that exposed 70 million records.

Rounding out the top ten are the 2014 Global Payments attack which exposed 1.5 million sets of credit card numbers, and finally the AoL attack, also this year, which potentially exposed the details of 120 million customers.

For more information on recent breaches, what can be learned and what can be done to combat them, visit the TSC Advantage website. There's also a summary of the top ten, their causes and impact in infographic form below.

Photo credit: Tashatuvango/Shutterstock

Three ways to improve your chess-playing skills

Mastering chess can be difficult. Very difficult. Even if you have time, patience and a gift for strategic thinking, you’ll still need to find plenty of challenging opponents to develop your skills.

Still, if you’re running short of real-life candidates then you could always turn to your computer, where there’s plenty of help for players of every level.

If you’re more an occasional player than an aspiring grandmaster, then you might appreciate 3D Chess Game (Android and Windows 8). The straightforward interface means you’ll be playing within moments, the graphics are great, and adjustable skill levels ensure a challenging game.

There aren’t multiple chess engines here, and you can’t play against someone over the internet, but that’s no surprise. 3D Chess Game provides some good opponents as well as a few small extras (timed games, the ability to review play later), and it’s ideal for casual use.

At first glance WinBoard (the Windows port of XBoard) seems more basic, thanks to its 2D graphics and slightly cluttered look -- but the reality is very different.

The program supports multiple chess engines, many very configurable, giving you a wide range of opponents. You’re able to connect to various chess servers, helping you find and play chess with people from all over the world. It’s possible to play by email, if you don’t have time for a full game, and WinBoard also supports a host of chess variations including shogi (Japanese chess), Makruk, Berolina, Spartan and many others.

Unsurprisingly, all this power does bring some complexity. WinBoard isn’t updated so often these days, either, but if you’re aiming for real chess mastery then it still has plenty to offer.

For us, though, Arena is a better choice which is nicely pitched between the other two. It doesn’t have the graphics of 3D Chess Game, for instance, but the interface still looks good, and is better organized and easier to use than WinBoard.

The program can be used with 250+ chess engines, and supports playing online games against people worldwide, so you’ll have no problems finding opponents. Good support for analyzing games will help you understand strategies, if that’s what you need. And if you like Arena so much that you’re playing when you really shouldn’t, no problem -- a built-in Boss Key (Ctrl+0) will instantly dismiss Arena to the system tray.

CosmicDuke malware mashup steals login data to take over networks

Security company F-Secure has uncovered a new malware attack that blends together elements of two earlier threats in an attempt to compromise enterprise networks.

CosmicDuke includes elements from the MiniDuke advanced persistent threat (APT) Trojan combined with the info-stealing Cosmu family. MiniDuke first appeared last year and was used in attacks against NATO and some European government agencies.

F-Secure has published a white paper which describes how CosmicDuke uses files and emails in a phishing attack to get users to compromise their system. Once installed it begins to gather information using keyloggers, screenshot grabbers and other techniques. This is then transmitted to remote servers so that attackers can use it to compromise more of the network and install more malware.

Sean Sullivan, security advisor at F-Secure says, "CosmicDuke isn't advanced in the way that MiniDuke was. But this is interesting as it moves towards a 'commoditized' not-for-profit info-stealer with connections to the existing crimeware ecosystem".

What's particularly worrying about CosmicDuke is that it overlaps elements of cybercrime with state-sponsored espionage. Sullivan adds that it could be, "...an organized actor (a 'contractor' perhaps?) who is gathering information to sell to a government. At the moment, crimeware which targets consumers is under attack by international law enforcement -- it is quite possible that the displaced crimeware vendors found a new buyer of information".

Decoy document names uncovered by F-Secure include titles referencing gas pipelines and the Ukraine which suggests this malware may be targeted against specific industries.

This is a very organized and professional attack and Sullivan advises businesses that, "You are a target. Keep calm and secure your stuff".

More details can be found in F-Secure's white paper or on the company's blog.

Image Credit: Brian A Jackson / Shutterstock

HTC One (M8) comes in Dual SIM flavor

Consumers looking for a dual-SIM smartphone have many low-end and mid-range options to choose from, offered by dozens of manufacturers in a wide range of configurations. The high-end selection is, however, much more limited, as fewer players compete in this space where, arguably, the value benefit of dual SIMs does not go hand in hand with the premium pricing of such devices.

HTC is among the few top players in the business to launch dual-SIM versions of its Android flagships. The Taiwanese maker did so last year with One Dual SIM and, this year, it gives its critically acclaimed One (M8) the same treatment.

One (M8) Dual SIM comes with the hardware design traits that set the standard model apart from the rest of the flagship pack, like the metal unibody chassis and front-facing speakers (not to mention the jaw-dropping looks).

Those interested in getting a One (M8) Dual SIM of their own, can do so starting next week. It will be available in a couple of European markets (and likely other parts of the globe), namely Austria, Germany and Switzerland, for €799, which is considerably more expensive than the standard model (as well as other dual-SIM smartphones).

Photo Credit: Joe Wilcox

Steve Wozniak disposes of 'worthless' Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch on eBay

Samsung’s Galaxy Gear has been handed a rotten assessment by Apple’s gadget-loving co-founder Steve Wozniak.

The man who started up the technology behemoth with Steve Jobs complained that the smartwatch doesn’t offer the convenience he was hoping and within half a day it was up on eBay ready to be sold at a bargain price.

"That [Galaxy Gear] was the only technology I bought to experiment with that I threw out after half a day, sold it on eBay because it was so worthless and did so little that was convenient,” he told the Flying Car innovation conference, according to CNET.

Wozniak went on from there and was equally scathing of the screen that he said should be a size that is big enough to give him everything his eyes could need. That was before he expressed his displeasure at the functionality of it.

"You had to hold it up to your ear and stuff,” he added.

It’s clear listening to Wozniak that he thinks the key to unlocking the wearables sector is one company coming in with a product that blows all the competitors away or starts a revolution like Apple did with both the iPhone and iPad.

"When one company does one thing very strikingly different, and everybody says this company got it right, this is the way of the future. In the past, it's been Apple a number of times -- not always. So I'm really hoping that Apple's the big breakthrough,” he said.

Apple’s co-founder was more glowing about Google Glass and stated that although it isn’t that useful he has "actually kind of liked playing with it".

Apple is expected to release a wearable device of some sort in the near future and the developers will be hoping that Wozniak doesn’t decide to toss it away like the Galaxy Gear.

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