Facebook introduces scrapbooks for photos of your kids
Facebook is about more than being social; it's about presenting a version of yourself to other people. When you share a photo of your meal, you're making a statement: "look at this delicious expensive meal I can afford", "look at the fancy restaurant we're visiting", or "gosh, aren't I healthy for making this salad?". But of course Facebook is not just filled with photos of food -- there are also photos of kids, presenting an image of family life.
Starting today, Facebook is rolling out a new scrapbooking feature designed specifically for pulling together photos of your child. The idea is to make it easier to collect together photos into one place so you can view all of your memories without having to jump from place to place.
Project Spartan: fat, chunky, and devoid of style and features
After all of the talk, some action. Microsoft has been gentling building the hype about Spartan for some time now, but it's only with the release of Windows 10 Technical Preview Build 10049 that we get to, officially, go hands on. This is the web browser that's replacing Internet Explorer, the default web browser in Windows 10, so it has quite a role to perform.
It's a browser that's "built for the modern web" -- whatever that means -- and it sees Microsoft trying to shed the shackles of IE and move forward. Microsoft has been talking the talking for months, but does Spartan walk the walk? No. Spartan, at the moment, appears to be a joke. Let me elaborate.
Syrian Electronic Army hacks Hostgator, FastDomain and more for hosting terrorist sites
It has been a little while since we heard anything from the Syrian Electronic Army, but now the group has made an appearance once again. SEA has hacked five big-name hosting companies -- Bluehost, Justhost, Hostgator, Hostmonster and FastDomain -- all part of the Endurance International Group.
SEA launched the attacks on the five hosts for "hosting terrorists websites" (sic) adding to the list of high-profile names it has already targeted -- a list that includes names such as Skype, Facebook, PayPal, Twitter and Microsoft. No sites were mentioned by name for having gained SEA's attention.
Microsoft brings mobile device management to Office 365
Microsoft has announced that mobile device management is now available in Office 365 for commercial customers. The feature is built into the office suite and allows administrators to control access to Office 365 data by Android, iOS and Windows Phone tablets and phones.
Security is very much at the heart of Office 365's mobile device management, and it includes a remote wipe feature. For businesses who have embraced the BYOD philosophy, this will bring peace of mind as it allows for the remote removal of Office and associated files even on personal devices.
Apple extends its trade-in program to Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry
Earlier in the month we reported that Apple was about to start offering gift cards as part of a trade-in program for people buying a new iPhone. The updated program has now gone live so you can take your old Apple device, or non-Apple smartphone to an Apple store, or mail it in to receive credit.
The credit can be used in store or online against the purchase of a new Apple device, and this program expansion is the latest move from Apple to try to tempt users away from other platforms. You can check online to see how much you can expect to receive for your existing phone and decide whether it's worth your while. Hint: it might not be.
GitHub hit by its biggest DDoS attack ever
GitHub is still in the throes of a massive DDoS attack which has blighted the site since Thursday. While the origins of and reasons for the attack is not yet fully known, the fact that two projects relating to Chinese anti-censorship have been targeted speaks volumes.
Now into its fifth day, the attack turned into something of a tug-of-war. Just as GitHub thought it had managed to wrestle back control of the site, a fresh wave was unleashed. The evolving attack is the largest in GitHub's history and engineers "remain on high alert".
Fake Puush update steals passwords from Windows users
Screenshot-sharing app Puush has inadvertently infected Windows users with malware. Over the weekend, the Puush server was breached and a fake, malware-infected program update was put in place. This means that anyone updating to version r94 of the software is infected.
The malware tries to grab passwords from infected systems, and was noticed after users complained on Twitter that the latest update had been flagged up by BitDefender. As a precautionary measure, the update server has been taken offline, and a clean update has been made available as a standalone download.
Snowden's leaks served only to strengthen the NSA's resolve
Edward Snowden is heralded as both a hero and villain. A privacy vigilante and a traitor. It just depends who you ask. The revelations he made about the NSA's surveillance programs have completely changed the face of online security, and changed the way everyone looks at the internet and privacy.
But just before the whistle was blown, it seems that the NSA was considering bringing its telephone data collection program to an end. Intelligence officials were, behind the scenes, questioning whether the benefits of gathering counter-terrorism information justified the colossal costs involved. Then Snowden went public and essentially forced the agency's hand.
The FBI wants your computer and mobile to be insecure
You'd think that governments would be encouraging people to keep their computers and personal data safe. Until relatively recently, this has been exactly what the FBI has been pushing -- suggesting that phone users should enable encryption on their handsets. But it seems that there has been something of a change of heart. It's probably Snowden's fault.
Now, as part of an "ongoing website redesign", advice about using encryption and protective PINs has vanished from the FBI website. Forget the security-focused devices such as the Blackphone 2, it appears that the bureau wants your data, and you, to be insecure.
Slack is tardy to the two-factor authentication party
Following a four-day long security breach back in February, chat and collaboration tool Slack is finally getting two-factor authentication. Last month, the encrypted central user database was accessed by hackers although there is no indication that hashed passwords were decrypted.
Slack insists that no payment information was seen by hackers, and while the breach is far from good news, there is a silver lining: it has forced the company to look harder at security. Starting today, two-factor authentication is available which locks down accounts via the Android, iOS and Windows Phone apps.
Exclusive: Widespread security flaw affects hundreds of UK news sites
A security flaw has been discovered in a number of UK news websites, potentially placing 24.5 million users at risk. The problem was found in websites run by Johnston Press, a UK media group that is responsible for scores of regional news websites.
Just a few days ago we reported about the findings of security researcher Brute Logic. He discovered an XSS vulnerability on Amazon that risked exposing user data and could be used to compromise accounts. Now the same researcher has discovered another cross-site scripting security flaw that could be used to redirect visitors to malicious websites -- and it's worryingly simple to exploit.
Xbox One April update preview brings voice messaging and more
It's time for a new update to roll out to Xbox One consoles around the world, and April's offering has some key changes that are sure to go down well. The headline addition sees the reappearance of a feature that Xbox 360 owners will remember from the previous generation of Microsoft's console -- voice messaging.
Forget time-consuming typing, now a quick double-tap of the Xbox button is all that's needed provided you have the messages app snapped into place. This week's rollout builds on the features that were added to the version that Preview program members gained access to a week ago.
Google has a new data compression extension for Chrome -- do you trust it?
A couple of days ago Google launched a Chrome extension that compresses web pages. This is a feature that has been available for the iOS and Android versions of Chrome, but now it has hit the desktop. It's something that will be off interest to people whose ISP puts data caps in place.
Launched on March 23, the Data Saver extension is currently in beta (come on, this is Google… what did you expect?) and it helps to "reduce the amount of data Chrome uses". This might sound appealing, but it does mean that your traffic is routed through Google's own servers. Do you trust Google enough?
LibreOffice moves to the cloud to take on Office Online and Google Docs
Four years in the making, LibreOffice is working towards moving online. LibreOffice Online is due to spring from a partnership between IceWarp and Collabora with the aim of competing directly with Google Docs and Office 365. Upon launch, it will be the first cloud-based office suite to offer support for the Open Document Format (ODF) standard.
Based on HTML 5, there's not currently a launch date for LibreOffice Online but IceWarp and Collabora hope to drive competition and innovation by entering the market. The suite is already available for just about every mobile and desktop platform, so the move to the cloud was all but inevitable.
Microsoft signs letter to congress calling for changes to government surveillance
Microsoft has teamed up with the likes of Mozilla, Silent Circle, Human Rights Watch, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and others, signing a letter to the White House and Congressional leaders that calls for an end to bulk collection of data. Many people and organizations have called for reform to the USA Patriot Act and this letter is the latest attempt to pile pressure on the government to make changes.
Scores of signatories point out that the USA PATRIOT Act Section 215 is due to expire in June, and now is the time to instigate reform. A call is made for greater privacy protection to be put in place when data is collected, as well as for improvements in transparency.
Sofia Elizabella's Bio
Sofia Wyciślik-Wilson is a queer, transgender journalist based in Poland. She has been writing about technology for more than two decades, and after years working for magazines, her writing moved online. She is fueled by literature, music, nature, and vegetables. You can find her on Bluesky and Mastodon. If you like what you read, you can Buy her a Coffee!
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