Microsoft hasn't been terribly impressive lately when it comes to Windows 10 updates. In fact, it's fair to say that they've been a complete mess. Just recently, they've issued updates that have deleted user files and caused crashes after creating incompatibilities with keyboard drivers. Now, (courtesy of the most recent Windows 10 update), many users are reporting that they've got no sound due to corrupted or incompatible audio drivers. The company has made hasty corrections to their … Read more
New Windows 10 Update Pulled For Unintended Data Deletion
Microsoft is having problems, and those problems are spilling out onto the company's massive user base. In a highly unusual move, the company pulled its latest Windows 10 update after receiving numerous complaints from users about missing files. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time the company has had problems with updates to their OS. Back in April, the company delayed a planned update because at the last minute, Blue Screen of Death issues were discovered. In another instance, they … Read more
Windows 10 Adoption Continues To Grow
Windows 10 is far and away the fastest growing version of the OS in the company's history. It recently hit an installation base of a staggering 700 million devices after about three years on the market. Note that these installation figures include installs not just on PCs, but also on Surface Hubs, Xbox, HoloLenses and smartphones. Unfortunately, as impressive as that number is, it falls well short of Microsoft's original estimate of a billion installs in three years. The smaller than … Read more
G-Suite Users Can View Employee Productivity With Work Insights
Google has recently made some changes and improvements to its G-Suite. It introduces new tools designed to allow managers and admins greater visibility into how the people in their organizations use the G-Suite. Currently, the "Work Insight" tool is available in beta and displays information on how G-Suite is deployed at the team level. While this will be a boon to all organizations, it will be especially valuable for organizations moving from legacy tools to the G-Suite. It will also … Read more
Malware Reports Continue To Rise
We've known for some time now that the next big crisis the internet will have to come to grips with is the dramatic rise of the Internet of Things (IOT). The problem isn't with the devices themselves, which are enormously helpful and rapidly growing in their popularity. Rather, it lies in the fact that the overwhelming majority of IoT manufacturers have been notoriously lax when it comes to building even basic security protocols into the goods they make and sell. The lack of security and … Read more
Another Chrome Extension Is Stealing Passwords
Do you use the Chrome browser extension for the MEGA file storage service? If you do, please read this article carefully. The official extension for that service has been compromised. It has been replaced with a malware version that has the capability to steal user login data for a number of popular websites, including Github, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and more. The extension was compromised on September 4th, when an unknown attacker breached MEGA's Chrome Web Store account and uploaded the … Read more
High Frequency Audio Computer Monitors May Expose Screen Activity
It may sound like something straight out of a science fiction movie, but recently, researchers have made a disturbing discovery. Using nothing more than an off-the-shelf microphone, it's possible for an attacker to determine what content you're viewing on your computer monitor. The researchers tested a variety of LCD screens (with both LED and CCFL backlighting) and observed that the high-pitched noise made by the monitors changed as the content displayed on the screen changed. The … Read more
Encrypted Chats Are Now Available In Skype
Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it had entered into a partnership with Open Whisper Systems, the makers of the Signal app. The purpose of the partnership was to bring Signal's open source, end-to-end encryption protocol to Skype. As of the latest Skype builds, that is now a reality. Stable versions of Skype have been released for Windows, macOS, Linux, android, and iOS. If you haven't yet upgraded to the latest versions and want to begin making use of the new protocol, you … Read more
Cortana May Have Flaw Allowing Unauthorized System Access
Researchers at McAfee have demonstrated a method that hackers could use to perform an end-run around Cortana and access data, run malicious code, or even change a locked computer's password. In this case, however, the emphasis is on the word "could." The researchers readily admit that this attack is high risk, has never been seen in the wild, and has little possibility of going undetected for a variety of reasons. Even so, the research is disturbing and does point to a valid weakness that … Read more
Microsoft Is Keeping Classic Skype, For Now
Microsoft recently found itself on the receiving end of more than a little user rage when they made significant changes to Skype, with the release of version 8. The company's original plan was to model Skype 8 after several different social media services, but the users found the new interface to be both annoying and frustrating. On the face of it, Skype 8 boasts a number of impressive enhancements, enabling users to screenshare inside calls, connecting with up to 24 users simultaneously and … Read more
