Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

In an attempt to improve trust and transparency, ad-blocking tool Ghostery has gone open source. It comes after Ghostery was acquired by Cliqz last year and raised a few eyebrows with the business model it put in place.

As well as going open source, Ghostery is also introducing new ways of making money. Rather than selling anonymized user data to third parties, there are now two income streams: Ghostery Insights and Ghostery Rewards. The former is a premium product for which details have not been revealed, the latter an opt-in marketing system.

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For a large number of Twitter users, there is one question that crops up time and time again -- "How do I get verified on Twitter?". Once dominated by celebrities and politicians, Twitter eventually allowed anyone to ask for a coveted tick -- but then closed down open applications after problems with white supremacists.

A lot of users were stripped of their verified status, but gaining the tick still remains a goal for many. Now Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has some good news. The plan is to open up verification to everyone -- and Twitter will not be acting as judge and jury.

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Cisco's Prime Collaboration Provisioning (PCP) software has a hardcoded password that could be used by an attacker to gain full control of a system. The company even says that "extenuating circumstances" exist that could enable an attacker to elevate privileges to root.

The vulnerability (CVE-2018-0141) affects version 11.6 of the software. A patch has been made available, and users are encouraged to install it as soon as possible as there are no other workarounds.

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Security firm McAfee has announced the acquisition of VPN company TunnelBear. Full details of the deal have not been revealed, and it is not known how much money has changed hands.

With a growing awareness of the importance of online security and privacy, VPN tools have grown in popularity in recent years, and the Canada-based TunnelBear has managed to gather 20 million users around the world.

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Google has released the first developer preview of Android P, giving us a glimpse into the future of its mobile OS. There's a lot to explore in this latest version of Android, but just what can you expect -- apart from notch support, of course?

As this is just the first preview version, there's not -- currently -- a huge number of new features. The focus at the moment is on under-the-hood changes, but there's still plenty to explore, and more than enough to pique interest for future builds. So… let's take a look.

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It's mere days since we were talking about the impending release of Android P for developers. Now, slightly earlier than expected, a preview of the latest version of Google's mobile operating system is here.

As this is a preview build, it is not only not aimed at the masses, but is also only compatible with a handful of Android phones -- specifically the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. If you have one of these devices, you can try out Android P for yourself, but Google has revealed that we’ll have to wait until Q3 for the final release.

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Locking your PC is fundamental to preventing others from accessing it when you leave it unattended. But now security researchers have shown that it is possible to use none other than Windows 10's Cortana to bypass a password-protected lock screen.

A pair of Israeli researchers found that it is possible to use voice commands to access a locked computer and install malware.

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It is a number of years since Facebook acquired mobile data compression firm Onavo, but in recent weeks concern mounted about how the social network's Onavo VPN tool collects user data.

The collection of user data while an app or service is being used is one thing, but a security researcher noticed that Onavo seemed to gather certain snippets of user data even when switched off.

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After initially launching in countries with slower internet connections, Facebook Messenger Lite ultimately spread to other parts of the world. The cut-down version of the app gave access to a subset of its big brother's features, and now Facebook has added support for video chat.

The app has proved popular even in countries with easy access to decent internet and mobile connections, as users eschew super-sized apps in favor of more diminutive versions. The addition of this important and popular feature is only going to increase its appeal.

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If you live in the UK and have been looking for another reason to invest in a Google Home smart speaker, Google just gave you one. The company is going to give UK users the ability to place free calls to mobile and landline numbers.

An update rolling out this week will add the new feature to Google Home speakers around the country. The feature was announced last year, and it brings the UK in line with the US -- and, importantly, it does not require tethering to a mobile phone, thereby trumping Apple HomePod.

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The Windows version of Google Chrome is ditching Microsoft's C++ Compiler and switching to Clang. The change brings Chrome for Windows in line with versions of the browser for macOS, Android and Linux.

The move not only makes complete sense for Google -- why not use the same compiler on all platforms, after all? -- it makes Chrome the first high-profile Windows app to make use of the open source compiler Clang.

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BlackBerry -- yep, them -- has filed a lawsuit against Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, claiming that the companies infringed on patents relating to BlackBerry Messenger.

This is not the first time the company has sued other tech firms, drawing on its back catalog of over 40,000 patents in a bid to pull in money through licensing fees. BlackBerry insists, however, that litigation is "not central to [its] strategy."

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It's not all that long since it came to light that Apple was purposefully reducing the speed of older iPhones in order to compensate for aging batteries. In the wake of the backlash that followed, the company announced a cheap battery replacement program, and also plans to introduce an update to iOS that allowed users to opt out of this performance reduction.

But just how significant was the slowdown? One iPhone user has released a video showing the performance difference between an old iPhone 6s, and the same phone with a new battery. The results are noteworthy to say the least.

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Web host 123 Reg has suffered something of an issue causing it to replace some users' websites with backups dating back to August 2017. Other website owners complained that their sites had been taken offline completely.

For anyone who has not made their own backup of their website, it's not looking as though 123 Reg will be able to help. Changes made since August last year appear to have been lost forever. Unsurprisingly, customers are more than a little irked.

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Google has released an update for its iOS app that adds an extension to iMessage. This allows for easy searching -- be it for GIFs or restaurant opening times -- while you chat, so there's no need to leave the app. More than this, it is also possible to share the information you find as a card.

The update also brings an expansion of sharing to all web browsers, including Safari. Share a page to the Google app, and you'll see a list of related suggestions. But it doesn't end there. Google has also introduced new options for iPad users.

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