The makers of all popular browsers - IE, Edge, Safari, Firefox, and Chrome included - have announced plans to disable Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol versions 1.0 and 1.1 by default. TLS Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.0 and 1.1 are the early versions of encryption used to secure connections to HTTPS websites. Their job is to provide confidentiality and integrity of data in transit between clients and servers. This week, and not unexpectedly, all the big browser manufacturers released co-ordinated announcements that TLS 1.0, which will be 20 years old next January, and TLS 1.1 will no longer be supported [...]

As a widening attack surface and evolving threats mean that organisations continue to breached despite a large security spend, many businesses are now turning to the 'zero-trust' security model. What Is The Zero-Trust Security Model? The Zero Trust security model, introduced by analyst firm Forrester Research, is an alternative architecture for IT security that doesn’t work on the traditional assumption that the perimeter is the main focus and that the inside of an organization’s network can be trusted. Zero-trust assumes that untrusted actors exist both inside and outside a company network, and that every user access request has to be [...]

Microsoft’s lesser-known co-founder, Paul Allen, who left the company in 1982, has died aged 65 from complications of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (lymphatic cancer), with news of his death bringing praise for his generosity as a philanthropist. School Friends To Billionaires School friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen set up Microsoft in April 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In fact, it was Allen who was credited as coming up with the name Microsoft after the pair rejected the name of “Allen & Gates” because it sounded like a law firm or consulting company. Allen chose ‘Microsoft’ because it was an amalgamation of [...]

On Windows 10, starting with version 1809 (October 2018 Update), the 'Snip & Sketch' app has been re-purposed to become the new default for screenshots. You can, however, choose to set the Print Screen key on your keyboard to open the screen snipping tools. Here's how: -- Open Settings. -- Click on Ease of Access. -- Click on Keyboard. Under “Print Screen shortcut,” turn on the "Use the PrtScn button to open screen snipping" toggle switch.

It may be no surprise to hear that California, home of Silicon Valley, has become the first state to pass laws to make AI bots 'introduce themselves' (i.e. identify themselves as bots), and to ban weak default passwords. Other states and countries (including the UK) may follow. Bot Law With more organisations turning to bots to help them create scalable, 24-hour customer services, together with the interests of transparency at a time when AI is moving forward at a frightening pace, California has just passed a law to make bots identify themselves as such on first contact. Also, in the [...]

It has been reported that Facebook has been testing how voice commands could be used in its Messenger platform to help users to send messages, initiate voice calls and set reminders. Internally Testing Facebook is reported to have confirmed to tech news platform ‘TechCrunch’ that it is internally testing a prototype of voice control (which was discovered by a TechCrunch tipster) in the M assistant of Messenger. Facebook’s new speech recognition feature goes by the name of ‘Aloha’. It is believed that Aloha will be used for Facebook and Messenger apps, as well as external hardware. The Aloha voice assistant [...]

The October rollout of the update to Windows 10 as part of the SaaS model has been suspended due to reports that some customers have experienced mass file deletions. Eating Files It has been reported that the rollout of version 1809 October 2018 update for Windows 10 has been temporarily halted after users reported that files had been deleted and over-written. The update rollout (which is due to be happening in waves over the course of this month) was stopped after users took to Microsoft’s support site and social media to complain, express their anger, and warn other users of [...]

Research by digital risk management and threat intelligence firm Digital Shadows has revealed that company credentials and emails that can be easily accessed on the web are making it easier for cyber-criminals to target businesses with attacks. What’s Are The Problems? According to the research, businesses may be suffering targeted attacks because several key problems that are caused by the results of previous hacks and breaches, and by current poor security practices. These problems are that: Around 12.5 million company email archive files are publicly accessible due to misconfigured archive storage drives e.g. FTP and Amazon S3 buckets. Business emails [...]

Just as November will see Microsoft asking Skype users to switch from Skype Classic to version 8, tech commentators are predicting that Microsoft and other companies will be looking to start reaping the financial benefits of offering blockchain as a service (BaaS). Skype Classic Replaced By Version 8 Microsoft has announced that it will be moving all users of the Classic version of its Skype video call software to version 8 of the software from 1st November for desktop, and 15th November for mobile and tablets. The company says that it will be sending out notifications to those using the [...]

Adobe Flash may be a way to make websites more exciting and engaging, but it can contain bugs, security holes, and it can really slow things down when you’re waiting for Flash-heavy pages to load. In Windows 10 you can quickly and easily turn off Flash in the Edge browser. Here’s how Go to Settings and scroll until you can click “View Advanced Settings”. Toggle “Use Adobe Flash Player” to off.