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Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images TikTok is a few weeks away from the end of the 75-day extension that President Donald Trump granted the service in January. The extension followed a temporary ban for “national security” reasons. As potential offers for TikTok roll in from potential US suitors and unprecedented levels of White House involvement continue […] More
ZDNETThere is no shortage of web browsers. But what makes FireDragon a browser you should try?First off, FireDragon was originally a fork of LibreWolf, but the development team (which is the same team behind Garuda Linux) decided to switch to the Floorp browser as its base.Also: I’ve tried nearly every browser out there and these are my top 6 (none are Chrome)FireDragon reminds me of a tricked-out version of Opera (without the integrated AI or Workspaces). There’s even a built-in Workspaces option, similar to that of Opera. As for the UI, I would have liked to at least see a vertical tabs option, but that can always be added via an extension (such as Sidebery). My only wish is that, when using extensions such as Sidebery, the horizontal tab bar could be hidden. What makes FireDragon special? The Garuda team knows its way around a UI, and it creates some of the coolest looking themes on the market. I’m not a big fan of dark themes, but I can admit that everything the Garuda developers touch turns out beautiful. But beyond the beauty, why should you consider FireDragon? Also: 5 great Chrome browser alternatives that put your privacy firstBefore we get too deep into this, know that FireDragon is only available for Linux and can be installed on Arch-based distributions from within the AUR repository and on other distributions via Flathub, AppImage, or binary tarballs. FeaturesWith that said, FireDragon is a privacy-focused web browser that includes: Searx and Whoogle search engines (the default being SearxNG), which can even be run locally (if necessary)Dark ReaderWorkspaces for improved tab managementdr460nized brandingFirefox account supportPresets for both profile-sync-daemon and Firejail (for even more security)Fast webpage loading thanks to customized settings, FastFox tweaks, and the disabling of media autoplayHidden navigation buttons (instead of grayed-out buttons when inactive)PBMode Security (for security/tracking protection that blocks HTTP loads at the network level)Latest Fingerprinting is an option in firedragon.cfgShips with uBlock Origin pre-installedA custom self-hosted sync server for Firefox accounts, which may provide additional privacy compared to standard Firefox syncMouse gestures, thanks to GesturefyThe thing about FireDragon that appeals to me is that it’s almost like the love-child of Firefox and Opera. It feels like Firefox but looks like Opera, and (to me) that’s a good thing. And because it’s privacy-focused, you can bet it’s safe to use. For example, out of the box, FireDragon uses Resist Fingerprinting (RFP) instead of the regular FireDragon fingerprinting protection settings. From within Settings > Privacy & Security > “Resist Fingerprinting & IP address leaks” section, you can enable strong protection against fingerprinting, which is the added protection from Firefox that includes forced light mode, some API disabling, and more. The one thing about this setting is that it will most likely break some sites you visit. Also: 6 obscure browsers that are better than ChromeThe good news is that the default protection is solid, so you probably won’t need to enable the strong protection against fingerprinting option. All of the bits and pieces found in FireDragon come together to create a nice and secure experience. More
<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Blink Mini 2 is available for $40 on its own or bundled with a weather-resistant power adapter for $50 With a stronger construction, improved video quality, a new spotlight, person detection, and weather resistance for outdoor use, the Blink Mini 2 is a definite upgrade from the first generation As […] More
Amazon/ZDNETAmazon is curtailing a privacy-minded feature that will affect owners of certain Echo devices.In an email sent last Friday to a number of customers, Amazon revealed that as of March 28, it will remove an opt-in setting that prevented audio of your Alexa requests from being shared with the company. Available to users with certain Echo devices, this option processes your Alexa requests locally instead of sending their recordings to the cloud.Also: Echo Pop vs Echo Dot: Which Alexa speaker should you choose?Though this option sounds like it should have been available to all Alexa users, it was limited to those with the Echo Dot 4th generation, Echo Show 10, and Echo Show 15 devices and only to people in the US with English set as their language. To enable this in the Alexa app, at least until March 28, select the supported Echo device and tap Settings. From there, turn on the switch for “Do Not Send Voice Recordings.”With this option soon to be disabled, does that open up Alexa users to privacy risks?To address such concerns, Amazon will automatically update the privacy settings for affected users to not save voice recordings, a company spokesperson told ZDNET. In this case, the recordings are still shared with Amazon. But those recordings will then be deleted after the request has been answered. Amazon will also remove any previous recordings still accessible. More
ZDNETSince 2014, Google’s Chromecast has been an affordable means for helping viewers turn their older model TVs into smart TVs, allowing them to stream content from their phones, tablets, and computers to a bigger screen. Alas, the era of the Chromecast has come to an end. Google is replacing it with the Google TV Streamer, promising a faster processor, Thread and Matter integration, and the ability to summarize TV episodes or whole seasons, among other new tricks.Also: ‘Untrusted device’ errors on Chromecast? Google is rolling out a fixBut that doesn’t mean the Chromecast is obsolete yet; in fact, Google has promised to continue providing software and security updates for now. I found a number of cool things anyone can do with their trusty Chromecast that most users are unaware of. More
Maria Diaz/ZDNETApple joined the RCS bandwagon last year, giving its users the ability to exchange rich text messages with their Android counterparts. The only problem? Those messages are not encrypted, exposing them to security risks. Now, Apple will soon eliminate that obstacle. Also: Google Fi users finally get RCS on iPhone – here’s how to check if it’s activatedIn a new announcement, Apple said it will add support for encrypted RCS messages in future updates to iOS, iPadOS, MacOS, and WatchOS. This means that any rich text messages exchanged between Apple and Android users will automatically be secured through the latest industry standard. RCS with E2EEThat industry standard comes from the GSM Association, which announced on Friday new specifications for RCS that include end-to-end encryption (E2EE). Thanks to the new standard, RCS will be the first major messaging format to support this type of encryption among different providers, including Apple and Google. The latest standard is based on a protocol known as Messaging Layer Security (MLS). With MLS in place, RCS messages and their rich content remain confidential and secure as they’re routed from one device to another. By adding other security features such as SIM-based authentication, the end-to-end encryption will help keep RCS messages private, protecting people from scams, fraud, and other threats, the GSMA said.Also: How to send RCS messages from your iPhone to your Android user friends”End-to-end encryption is a powerful privacy and security technology that iMessage has supported since the beginning, and now we are pleased to have helped lead a cross-industry effort to bring end-to-end encryption to the RCS Universal Profile published by the GSMA,” Apple spokesperson Shane Bauer said in a statement shared with The Verge and other media outlets. “We will add support for end-to-end encrypted RCS messages to iOS, iPadOS, MacOS, and WatchOS in future software updates.” More
ebrublue10/Getty Images Cybercriminals are weaponizing artificial intelligence (AI) across every attack phase. Large language models (LLMs) craft hyper-personalized phishing emails by scraping targets’ social media profiles and professional networks. Generative adversarial networks (GAN) produce deepfake audio and video to bypass multi-factor authentication. Automated tools like WormGPT enable script kiddies to launch polymorphic malware that evolves […] More
ZDNETI’ve been using Bitwarden for a long time. I like it for its ease of use, security, feature set, and that it’s open-source.One thing about Bitwarden is that it makes it easy to move between different accounts. With the click of a menu item, you can switch between your personal account and your work account — without having to leave the Bitwarden window. That’s right, multiple accounts. But why? Also: 7 ways to get more out of your Bitwarden password managerSome businesses have policies that require users not to include personal items within a password manager. Or maybe you don’t want to have to use separate password managers for your personal and work accounts. That’s inefficient. Another reason I like to separate the two is simply for peace of mind. When I’m not in my office, I’m not working; and when I’m not working, I don’t always want to be reminded of work. By separating those accounts, I don’t have the reminders of clients and deadlines when I’m “off the clock.” But how do you do this? It’s remarkably easy. Let me show you. How to add a second account to Bitwarden What you’ll need: To make this work, you’ll need at least two valid Bitwarden accounts. You can do this on the desktop, mobile, and web versions of Bitwarden, and I’m going to demonstrate it on my Pop!_OS desktop.Let’s go. More
