Hackers are now far more likely to target Microsoft Office than web browsers according to a security firm. Kaspersky Labs says the big problem is that fixing some of the most common MS Office flaws would cause serious compatibility problems. The ... figures are based on the number of users affected, rather than the sheer volume of attacks. That's arguably more informative as it doesn't treat all attacks as equally significant. Kaspersky compared the last three months of 2018 with the same period in 2016 and found a dramatic difference in just two years. Browsers and Flash Less of a Problem In the ... (view more)
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A feature used in several ad blocker tools could be used to "booby trap" websites according to a security researchers. It appears to be a low but credible risk. The problem is all to do with the way many ad blockers work. In simple terms, they ... maintain a blacklist of URLs that host ads and other unwanted material. Whenever a website tries to load an ad from an URL on the list, it's blocked from doing so. Since last summer some ad blockers, including Adblock Plus, added support for a feature called "$rewrite." With this feature, the ad blocker won't just block the unwanted URL from ... (view more)
A security researcher says an Internet Explorer flaw could affect people who don't even use the outdated browser. It's a reminder of the dangers of opening unexpected email attachments. John Page has published details of the bug which affects ... version 11 of Internet Explorer (the latest) on both Windows 7, 8 and 10. The bug involves a file format called MHT. It's a format that's not used much these days but used to be common back when Internet Explorer was king. It's used to download an entire web page (including images and other media) into a single file. It's not needed today as browsers can ... (view more)
Infopackets Reader Jerry B. writes: " Dear Dennis, With Windows 7 reaching end of life in January 2020, I decided to upgrade my machine to Windows 10. Everything went fine without a hitch, except for one small issue. The Windows 10 task bar is very ... difficult to read - especially the clock and any running tasks. I have another Windows 10 machine that I use daily and I can clearly see the writing on the task bar. I have searched Google for ' windows 10 taskbar unreadable ' and 'windows 10 task bar font black' and 'windows 10 task bar text too dark', and similar searches, but I can seem to nail ... (view more)
Scammers have found a creative way to bypass spam filters, effectively tricking legitimate sites into sending the message on their behalf. It's a reminder that human skepticism is always a key part of cyber security. The new scam was spotted by Sam ... Cook of Comparitech who spotted something amiss in an email from the British Newspaper "Archive," - a perfectly legitimate organization. The scam email asked him to confirm his email address for registering an account with the site. The problem there was that Cook hadn't attempted to register. In fact, this was the first time he ever ... (view more)
Microsoft is changing a default setting in Windows 10 that means it's now OK to remove a USB device without properly "ejecting" it from the operating system. It's an acknowledgement that many users simply don't use the "eject" feature. The fact is, ... using the "Safely remove hardware and eject media" on the Windows task bar (near the clock) is the correct way to eject USB media. This method is necessary because of read and write buffers to the device are constantly active. If the buffers are not flushed before the device is properly ejected, it could mean ... (view more)
Microsoft is going back to its old policy of letting users choose what Windows updates they get and when they get them, albeit with some restrictions. It's also going to put updates through more testing before rolling them out. One of the biggest ... change (and perhaps most controversial) with Windows 10 was the abandonment of the old policy by which users could take a case-by-case approach to downloading updates . The default in Windows 10 for home users has been that everything downloads and installs automatically, though exactly when this happens varies from device to device. That's partly ... (view more)
Infopackets Reader Bill H. writes: " Dear Dennis, I was on Amazon.com and suddenly a warning message appeared, stating that my PC was infected with a virus and to call 1-866-666-1917 to fix the problem. There was no way to close the window. I called ... the number and spoke to a fellow at Smart PC Experts ( smartpcexperts.com ), who had a very thick Indian accent . They convinced me that my PC was infected with the Zeus Trojan and it needed to be fixed. I allowed them remote access to my machine and they installed some software. After that, they demanded $499 as payment for their services. I was ... (view more)
Facebook has asked some new users to provide passwords for their email accounts. It's provoked fury among critics who say it goes against basic rules of online security. Often when a user signs up for an online service they provide an email address ... as a form of identification. The service will normally check the address is genuine by sending a code or a link in an email to the address, thus proving the user does indeed "own" that address. However, some people signing up to Facebook have instead been seeing a screen that offers to confirm the email address automatically. The screen includes a ... (view more)
Microsoft will add a "tamper protection" feature to the built in antivirus tools in an upcoming Windows 10 update. It's designed to stop malware from switching off key security features in Microsoft Defender. Initially the changes will be available ... for Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, which is a subscription service for businesses. However, Microsoft appears to have revealed it will later become available to home users of Windows 10. (Source: zdnet.com ) The idea is to prevent rogue apps from disabling some of the weapons in the Microsoft Defender arsenal, in turn making it far ... (view more)
Facebook is to tell users why a particular post has appeared in their news feed. However, it won't be telling the full story. One of the most controversial elements of Facebook is its news feed algorithm, which is responsible for showing 'news' from ... friends when a user logs into Facebook. At one point, this simply consisted of everything the user's friends had posted or shared in chronological order. This arguably became impractical, as both the number of users and the range of content users could share or otherwise interact with had rocketed. The argument is that the sheer amount of content ... (view more)
Infopackets Reader Cindee T. writes: " Dear Dennis, The other day I was using my web browser and suddenly received a message that my computer was infected and to call 855-551-7666 to have it fixed. There was no way to close the warning screen - I ... was scared and didn't know what to do! I called the number and spoke to ' Right PC Experts ' ( rightpcexperts.com ). The person I spoke to had a very thick Indian accent . To fix the virus warning, he remotely logged into my computer and installed a bunch of security programs, by the names of 'Anti hacking', 'Email Security', 'Network Firewall' and ' ... (view more)
Google is to make emails more interactive. It's billed as offering "more engaging and actionable email experiences" but might appeal to marketers more than users. It's all to do with the release of what Google calls "AMP for Email." AMP (Accelerated ... Mobile Pages) already exists and is a project designed to have web pages open quickly on mobile devices even if they contain media such as photos or videos. AMP for Email makes it possible to send a document in AMP format, but have it delivered as an email. At its most basic level, that should mean emails will be quicker to load, rather ... (view more)
Apple has released a patch for mobile devices which covers 51 security flaws. It's sparked debate over Apple's security levels and the way it issues such updates. The patch is for iOS, taking it up to version 12.2. Apple doesn't issue standalone ... security updates. Instead, it builds it into the main update for the system, which also includes new features or bug fixes. (Source: apple.com ) The most notable fix is a bug in an API (application program interface), which lets third party software interact with Apple services. In this case, the API bug could allow malware to access an iPhone, iPad ... (view more)
Infopackets Reader 'JustRosy' writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a laptop that I use daily, and for security reasons I want my WiFi permanently disabled in Windows 10 . Unfortunately my Windows 10 laptop WiFi does not have an 'on / off' switch which ... would disable my WiFi permanently. Instead, I have been using Windows 10 "airplane mode" to disable the WiFi, but this doesn't work 100% of the time because my WiFi seems to activate spontaneously. I am super paranoid about having a WiFi connection because I don't believe there is a 100% secure WiFi, and therefore I don't ever want to use WiFi on my ... (view more)
PC and laptop manufacturer ASUS unwittingly installed malware on its customers' laptops, according to a cyber security company. The malware went out to around a million people, yet appears to have been a highly targeted attack. The claims come from ... Kaspersky Lab, with rival firm Symantec confirming it has found similar evidence of the attack. At the time of writing, ASUS has yet to comment publicly on the claims. (Source: kaspersky.com ) According to Kaspersky Lab, the hackers took advantage of ASUS Live Update Utility. That's a tool by which ASUS automatically updates software on laptops, ... (view more)
Firefox is to stop websites from playing videos automatically when a user visits a page. By default, autoplay will only be allowed if the sound is muted. The move by developers Mozilla is designed to tackle the problem of unwanted noise when ... somebody is simply expecting to read an article. This is a particular problem with sites that carry video ads or news sites that automatically play a video report, even if it isn't related to the story the user was expecting to read. The new default takes effect in version 66 of Firefox, which is getting a public release this week. The videos will still ... (view more)
According to a recent report, Microsoft products made up eight of the ten most exploited software bugs last year according to a security company. That's higher than in recent years, largely because Adobe Flash is becoming a less rewarding target for ... hackers as it loses popularity. As recently as 2015, most of the top ten involved bugs with Flash. Microsoft took the unwanted lead in 2017 with seven entries on the list. (Source: bleepingcomputer.com ) Internet Explorer Tops The List The top spot for 2018 went to a bug in the Windows VBScript engine . That's a tool that handles code designed for ... (view more)
A new report claims most Android "antivirus" apps don't provide enough protection to justify that term. It says two-thirds of the antivirus programs were so ineffective, they were practically useless. The report comes from AV-Comparatives, a website ... that tests antivirus and other security software. It says it was inspired to look at Android apps after spotting one that literally did nothing but show a fake progress bar before saying no malicious apps were present (without actually carrying out a scan). The test involved putting 250 different Android antivirus apps to work on Samsung Galaxy S9 ... (view more)
A new Google app uses a phone camera to describe the world around blind and visually impaired people. It's an artificial intelligence take on a task that's already performed remotely by human volunteers. The app, dubbed "Google Lookout," works best ... when the user puts the phone around their neck like wearing a lanyard, or in a shirt pocket with the camera lens uncovered. The app then uses the camera view to analyze what's around the user and describe what it can "see". The idea is that the app activates in situations where a blind user might ask for help, adjusting to context. For ... (view more)
The creator of the World Wide Web (WWW) says it faces a "downward plunge to a dysfunctional future." Sir Tim Berners-Lee said many of its problems were unintended consequences. Berners-Lee spoke to mark the 30th anniversary of him submitting a ... proposal to his managers at European science group CERN for a way to organize data. That technology, based on hyperlinked text, became the World Wide Web. In turn, that helped shape the Internet into something used worldwide by ordinary people. (Source: bbc.co.uk ) Writing an open letter, Berners-Lee noted that the web is now "a public square, a library ... (view more)
Apple wants to patent a technology that would make it harder for police to track people's location through their phone. The technology wouldn't make messages and calls secret, but rather make it harder to prove who owned the phone in question. The ... patent is for end-to-end encryption for the mobile subscriber identification number (MSNI). That's part of a longer number that also identifies the country and mobile network a phone is registered to What's important here is that the MSNI identifies the specific handset. Police could then force a mobile carrier to hand over the ... (view more)
Google has issued an urgent warning for Chrome users to update their browser if needed. That's because a security flaw is being actively exploited. The flaw in question is referred to as a "zero-day exploit." In an ideal world, software developers ... discover a bug and get some time before hackers find out about it and start taking advantage. In this case, the hackers did so before Google could develop a fix and get it out to users. Google is keeping the full details of the flaw secret for now to avoid giving even more criminals clues on how to exploit it. It says it won't say any more ... (view more)
The demise of the password has come a step closer this week with the adoption of a new standard for physical "keys" for logging in to websites. "WebAuthn," as it's called, makes it easier for sites to let users log in through a physical method - ... rather than relying on users having to remember a password. These methods range from USB devices that act like a physical key to biometric devices such as fingerprint or eye scanners. The big hope is that such devices reduce the need to rely on passwords which can be guessed or stolen in data breaches. Browsers Already On Board Having a ... (view more)
A new online chat service costs one cent for every character in a message. It appears to be both a business idea and a social experiment. The site has the straightforward name called "Expensive Chat," and has the equally to-the-point description of ... "Spend money to chat with strangers who spend money to chat with strangers." Users can register to pay with their bank card or through third-party payment site "Stripe." Once they are setup, every time they write a message, they'll see a reminder of the price based on its length. They'll have to confirm the message and their willingness ... (view more)
Infopackets Reader Cliff H. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thanks for your excellent article on how to boot Windows 10 using the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter Driver . I am also having problems with my system freezing on me randomly, but have not been ... able to narrow down the culprit (nor do I have a system stable enough to do more testing!). I have managed to boot Windows 10 in Safe Mode with Networking and the system is stable, but I can't install any programs because the Windows installer service isn't running. Do you know how to make it so I can install software in Safe Mode using Windows 10 ... (view more)
Bill Gates has picked 10 technologies he thinks will break through in 2019. Perhaps surprisingly for the Microsoft founder, only one is even partially related to computers. Gates made the picks after being chosen as the first ever guest editor of ... the MIT Technology Review annual list. His only real computer-related choice was artificial intelligence-based assistants (which appear on PCs as well as mobile devices and gadgets) doing a better job of understanding human language. That's always tough, because human speech doesn't follow mathematical logical rules and often depends on context. ( ... (view more)
Some videos on YouTube's Kids app contain instructions on how to commit suicide. It casts serious doubt on YouTube's claims to "curate" the content available to children. YouTube Kids is a dedicated app for mobile devices and smart televisions. The ... content it hosts is also available at a dedicated website. YouTube describes the service as being a "fun, family-friendly place for children and families." The app is designed to be easy to use, even for young children. Although parents can create individual accounts for each child which learn their viewing tastes and make ... (view more)
Energizer has made a smartphone that is not surprisingly all about the battery. Though to be fair, it's got six times the capacity of some leading models. The few people who've seen the phone say it's bordering on impossibly big, but that it does ... provoke debate about the way phones suck up electricity. The Android-based handset is called the Energizer Power Max P18K Pop. It has a battery capacity of 18,000 mAh. To put that into context, it's three times more than a Motorola phone that's specifically marketed around long battery life. It's also around six times more than many flagship Android ... (view more)
Infopackets Reader Barry S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am having problems with my computer's display freezing randomly, though it usually happens within 3 minutes of booting into Windows 10. Oftentimes the system will lock up during boot. When this ... happens, my hard drive light on the PC keeps flickering away like it's still loading, which suggests to me that there is something wrong with my video card. I tested this theory by using remote desktop to connect to my main PC from my laptop. To my surprise the PC was still working as it should via remote desktop, though as I mentioned the display ... (view more)
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