tools

Wed
11
Oct
John Lister's picture

Bogus 'Adblock Plus' Opens More Ads

Users of a popular ad-blocking tool have been warned to watch out for a bogus version of the tool. One copy of the fake Adblock Plus was downloaded 37,000 times before being removed from the Google Chrome store. The legitimate version of Adblock ... Plus is one of the most popular tools available as a Chrome extension: a third-party tool that can be added directly to the browser itself. The makers claim that more than a hundred million devices are actively using the tool. The bogus version is particularly ironic, though not in a way that victims would appreciate: rather than block ads, it ... (view more)

Thu
08
Jun
John Lister's picture

Microsoft Accused of 'Unfair Security Behavior'

Security firm Kaspersky Lab has filed a formal complaint accusing Microsoft of acting unfairly over the way it promotes its own security products. Microsoft says it is acting to keep Windows users protected. Kaspersky previously complained to the ... Federal Anti-monpoly Service in its home country of Russia. That led to several changes to Microsoft's policy, including rewording a message that suggested users uninstall third-party security software and use the built-in Windows Defender instead. Now Kaspersky has taken the issue to the European Commission, which oversees competition issues ... (view more)

Wed
10
May
John Lister's picture

Microsoft Patches Major Security Bug

Microsoft has suffered a hugely embarrassing security flaw that takes advantage of a bug in Windows' built-in security software. But, security experts have praised its extremely rapid response. The bug, spotted by Google's Tavis Ormandy, was in ... Microsoft's own malware protection tools (including Windows Defender), which is built directly into Windows. Such tools have been so successful that for many users, third-party security tools are no longer necessary. The problem was specifically with a tool known as MsMpEng, (short for Microsoft Malware Protection Engine) that is enabled by ... (view more)

Tue
18
Apr
John Lister's picture

NSA Used Windows Bugs as Spy Tools

Microsoft says it's patched most of the recently revealed security flaws said to have been used by the National Security Agency (NSA) for spying. But the incident is a reminder not to rely on unsupported editions of Windows such as Windows XP and ... Vista. Windows Vista officially reached its end of extended support April 11, 2017 . A group calling itself "Shadow Brokers" is trying to auction what it says is a set of tools that the NSA were using for surveillance by taking advantage of security failings in widely used software. While that's a bold claim - particularly as it means ... (view more)

Tue
17
Jan
John Lister's picture

Facebook Tests Tools to Fight Fake News

Facebook is testing tools to make it easier to combat "fake news" posted to the site. It's using Germany as a test bed for the tools, which will include making it harder for scammers to make money from false stories. The term "fake news" came to ... prominence last year and has been applied to all sorts of types of writing, including opinionated pieces and legitimate articles with unintended factual errors. However, what Facebook is targeting is material that has the appearance of legitimate news reporting but is largely completely fictional and designed either to spread ... (view more)

Tue
04
Oct
John Lister's picture

8 Tools that can Help Keep Your PC Secure

At Infopackets we're often asked to recommend security software and tools or give our opinion on specific products. While every product has its pros and cons, as the old saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. With that in mind, I ... thought I'd run down the actual tools I use in my day to day life rather than when we're testing out products. That means trying to find the balance of staying protected without taking up too much time and attention or computing resources. Permanent My main anti-virus software is Microsoft Security Essentials on Windows 7. It's ... (view more)

Thu
02
Jun
John Lister's picture

Bloatware from 5 Major PC Firms 'A Security Risk'

A security firm says that laptops from five major PC manufacturers have inherent security flaws which make the systems open to attack the very first time they are used. The problem deals with the automatic update tools installed by the manufacturer. ... Duo Labs explored the pre-installed manufacturer software on laptops from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP and Lenovo. In total, they found 12 vulnerabilities which they described as being ridiculously simple to exploit. (Source: duo.com ) The software is what's officially known as Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) software, but commonly referred to ... (view more)

Mon
06
Oct
Brandon Dimmel's picture

BadUSB Attack: Now in The Wild; Exploits to Follow

Security researchers have purposely unleashed tools that could help hackers use USB drives to secretly spread malware on computers, including mobile devices with USB ports. The goal in releasing such tools is to coerce USB drive manufacturers into ... doing more to protect consumers against such attacks. The attack vector was initially reported in early August of this year, and until now was only theoretical. The tools were released by security researchers Adam Caudill and Brandon Wilson. Their campaign is inspired by the unveiling of " BadUSB ," a type of attack that uses a USB thumb ... (view more)

Fri
14
Jun
Dennis Faas's picture

Hands-Free Texting Could Get You Killed: Report

Think you're a safe driver because you use hands-free technologies to communicate with friends and family while behind the wheel? Think again. The American Automobile Association (AAA) is recommending drivers not use such tools at all while driving ... their vehicles. The recommendation follows a study by a cognitive distraction researcher and his team at the University of Utah. The researchers carried out a series of tests that showed drivers could still be distracted when using hands-free communications tools. AAA chief Robert Darbelnet said the group's suggestion to avoid the technology might ... (view more)

Mon
28
Jan
Dennis Faas's picture

'Image Tools 3.5', and 'SafeIP 2.0'

Image Tools 3.5 This software tool can be used to quickly and easily adjust your favorite digital images. Using Image Tools 3.5, you can adjust the brightness and size of images. You can also use this program to take screenshots and share your ... images with friends and family. http://union-d.ru SafeIP 2.0 Interested in protecting your privacy while using the Internet to surf, work, or play games? Then try out SafeIP, which hides your Internet Protocol (IP) address from prying eyes. This program will hide your IP address from websites, email programs, and games. http://www.freesafeip.com This ... (view more)

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - tools