John Lister

Microsoft is to release a tool to make it easier to move to a new computer when upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11. It removes a minor headache but won't necessarily overcome the main reasons people are passing on the upgrade. With some recent ... estimates saying the majority of Windows PCs are still running Windows 10, time is running out for the end-of-life deadline in October. After that, Windows 10 will get no new features and no free security patches. Businesses can pay for security patches for three more years (with the price doubling each year), while consumers can pay $30 for one ... (view more)

Microsoft will no longer let users "sign in" with their face in a darkened room. It's a deliberate choice of security over convenience. The change affects the Windows Hello feature that lets users sign into their Windows device using something other ... than a password. This includes a PIN (which can only work on a specific device) or biometric logins such as a fingerprint or facial recognition. One lesser-known limitation is that an ordinary webcam won't work for the feature. Instead, it must have an infrared capability that means it has depth perception. This effectively means it can scan a ... (view more)

Facebook and Instagram owner Meta has been accused of tracking users even when they are using VPNs or incognito mode. They have now stopped using a technique that may have breached Google's rules for Android apps, raising serious questions about how ... far companies are willing to go to bypass privacy controls. The controversial activity was discovered by computer scientists from Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands. Their findings revealed that both Meta and Russian search engine Yandex used a similar method to monitor users without consent, even when standard privacy measures were in place. ... (view more)

Android 16 has been released much earlier than expected. Although it has some notable new features, it's biggest design overhaul won't be arriving till September. Normally a new Android release is expected in August or September. Google hasn't ... officially said why version 16 is earlier, other than that it "ensures you get the latest updates as soon as possible on your devices." One theory is that Google wants to give a boost to sales of Android phones by letting manufacturers start preloading the system onto new handsets for sale in the fall. As usual with Android, the new version is debuting ... (view more)

Users of Microsoft Authenticator have just a few weeks to move passwords away from the tool. From August, 2025, passwords will be inaccessible and in some cases deleted. Microsoft Authenticator is an app with a range of security features. A key one ... is as a two-factor authentication tool for websites. In simple terms, the website asks Microsoft to verify somebody's identity, the users does so in the app (for example with a fingerprint scan), and then Microsoft confirms the user is who they say there are. This means the website doesn't have to store login details for the user. Authenticator ... (view more)

The governor of Texas has signed a law that means app stores must verify user ages. Governor Greg Abbott had reportedly been privately urged by Apple chief Tim Cook to veto the bill. Google, the other major company directly affected by the law, also ... publicly opposed the measures. It follows a similar law passing in Utah. The new law is known as the Texas App Store Accountability Act. It means app stores will need to verify the age of users and then tell app developers which of four age groups they fall into: child, young teenager, older teenagers or adult. The idea is that app developers ... (view more)

Breaking encryption using quantum computing could be 20 times easier than previously thought. It's not happening any time soon, but the point where computer security needs an overhaul may be earlier than expected. Most computer encryption today is ... based on creating an encryption key by multiplying two large prime numbers together. The beauty and simplicity is that doing this is very simple, but reversing the process to work out what the two numbers originally were is incredibly complex. While a computer can eventually figure it out, the idea is that it would take so long (potentially years or ... (view more)

Verizon has asked to be let out of legal commitments to unlock phones within 60 days, allowing anyone with a new Verizon phone to take it to another carrier. The rules currently say that if somebody buys a phone that's locked to a particular network ... provider, they have the right to get it unlocked after six months, However, Verizon has made two legal commitments to follow a 60-day limit instead. One commitment was made as part of the deal when it bought the rights to broadcast mobile data at a particular frequency (the 700 MHz spectrum). The other was as a condition of getting regulatory ... (view more)

Microsoft has issued an emergency fix and guidelines after a Windows 10 update caused major problems for some users. It meant some machines went into an inescapable reboot loop. The issue came with May's monthly security update, which has the ... reference code KB5058379. It affected users who have an Intel vPro processor with a feature called Intel Trusted Execution Technology enabled. An Intel vPro processor is mainly aimed at small business users as it includes key security and network management capabilities. The Trusted Execution Technology feature is designed to secure computer hardware to ... (view more)

Around 5.7 million files including resumes were unintentionally exposed by a recruitment company according to security researchers. The breach could put jobseekers at risk for a range of scams. Cybernews says it spotted the files accessible and ... unprotected online. They came from HireClick, a recruitment company that describes itself as "The Most Affordable and Effective Hiring System on the Planet." The files included resumes with full contact details for jobseekers along with details of their current and past employment. Although details such as full names, addresses, phone numbers and email ... (view more)