Periodic password changes are likely to do more harm than good. In a largely overlooked post published late last month, Microsoft said it was removing periodic password changes from the security baseline settings it recommends for customers and auditors. After decades of Microsoft recommending passwords be changed regularly, Microsoft employee Aaron Margosis said the requirement is an “ancient and obsolete mitigation of very low...
Your web browser should never act as surveillance software. Unfortunately Google Chrome’s surveillance methods make it highly insecure by allowing trackers to follow you around the web. Over a recent week of Web surfing, I peered under the hood of Google Chrome and found it brought along a few thousand friends. Shopping, news and even government sites quietly tagged my browser to let ad...
Samsung’s official Twitter account posted that scanning for ‘malware viruses’ on is important to keep it running smoothly. “This also is true for your QLED TV if it’s connected to Wi-Fi!” it added. The tweet included a video showing how to perform this process on your Samsung SmartTV, which involves going to General Settings > System Manager > Smart Security > Scan. Scanning your...
Google gives Chrome users reasons to switch to Firefox. Google is planning to restrict modern ad blocking Chrome extensions to enterprise users only, according to 9to5Google. This is despite a backlash to an announcement by Google in January proposing changes that will stop current ad blockers from working efficiently. And the software giant is not backing down: It says the only people that can use...
In a big move for its approach to PC gaming, Microsoft has announced that it’s planning to bring more Microsoft games to Steam, freeing them from the confines of the Microsoft Store. That store itself isn’t dead and gone—it’s part of Microsoft’s plans for bringing the Xbox Game Pass subscription service to PC, which it also announced today. But it will no longer be...
Smartphone batteries degrade over time. In an iPhone, as the battery ages, Apple throttles the speed of the device and degrade performance, which caused a huge uproar when it was discovered by users in 2017. The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced Wednesday that Apple would change its ways by telling customers when it was pushing software updates that would affect the...
In early April, we announced enhancements to the Windows update process to improve the user experience with more control, transparency, and the initial availability of the Windows 10 May 2019 Update through the Windows Insider Program’s Release Preview ring to focus on and improve quality. Based on positive data and the feedback we’ve seen from this longer preview phase; I’m pleased today to share...
Microsoft’s latest Windows 10 update (version 1903), coming out in May will need almost double the storage space than it did last time for its October 2018 Update (version 1809). Users running the 32-bit version see the requirement jump from 16GB to 32GB and those running the 64-bit version also need a minimum of 32GB, an additional 12GB of space from the previous baseline...
Mozilla is scheduled to add a new user anti-fingerprinting technique to Firefox with the release of version 67, scheduled for mid-May this year. Advertising networks often sniff certain browser features, such as the window size to create user profiles and track users as they resize their browser and move across new URLs and browser tabs. Called “letterboxing,” this new technique adds “gray spaces” to...
Windows 10’s next update is the April 2019 Update, which is version 1903 and was codenamed 19H1 during development. It features a light theme, speed improvements, and lots of polish. There are no crazy new features like My People or Timeline. This article includes everything new as of Insider Preview build 18323, released on January 24, 2019. Speed Improvements (Thanks to Better Spectre Fixes)...
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