Microsoft last month pushed a silent update that patched a processor side channel data leak in all CPUs Intel has introduced since 2012, researchers who discovered the flaw said Tuesday. The vulnerability—discovered and privately reported to Intel 12 months ago—resided in every CPU Intel has introduced since at least its Ivy Bridge line of processors and possibly earlier, a researcher from security firm Bitdefender...
In a future update, you’ll see Windows Defender rebranded to Microsoft Defender to indicate that it now part of a cross platform family of products. This includes enterprise products, which offer solutions for multiple OS platforms. Historically, Microsoft’s consumer antivirus product has been called Windows Defender. With the release of their enterprise security offerings called Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) and Microsoft Defender...
You might be perturbed if somebody calls your business an “extortion racket” or your sales pitch a “ransom note”, or says you have “poor ad blocking practices.” But Eyeo Chief Executive Till Faida, leader of the widely used Adblock Plus browser extension, is unruffled. The way he sees it, he’s just trying to rescue online advertising and the websites that rely on it. The...
At this week’s Microsoft Inspire conference in Las Vegas, the company announced some impressive improvements to my new favorite browser, Chromium Edge. I’ve become a huge fan of the new Chromium version of the Microsoft Edge browser, which is still in beta test. The reason is that I really missed the one browser-does-it-all aspect of old Internet Explorer; before this new browser, I was...
The first ever malware strain seen that abuses DNS over HTTPS (DoH) protocol has been discovered by Netlab. Security researchers from Netlab, a network threat hunting unit of Chinese cyber-security giant Qihoo 360 made this discovery. The malware, named Godlua, was detailed in a report published on Monday by the company’s researchers. According to the Netlab team, Godlua is a malware strain written in...
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...
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