Information Technology

Jack Wallen/ZDNETFirefox is an outstanding choice for your default Android browser. It’s more secure than Chrome and offers an abundance of features. One such feature is extensions. That’s right, Firefox is one of the few mobile browsers that includes extensions and for anyone who’s come to rely on them, it’s a breath of fresh air.Also: How to create Android Routines (and a few of my favorites to get you started)Extensions boost the browser feature set to improve security, efficiency, and useability. I wanted to share with you the extensions I’ve found to be must-haves for anyone using Firefox on Android. More

Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNETOn Monday, alongside a host of new PCs powered by Copilot, Microsoft revealed new security features for Windows 11. “We’ve not only built new security features into Windows 11, but we’ve also doubled down on security features that will be turned on by default,” the company explained in a blog.  Also: Every Copilot+ PC Microsoft just announced to take on Apple’s M3 MacBooksIt’s a critical time for cybersecurity to stay at the cutting edge. According to Microsoft’s own research, password attacks have increased 3,378% to more than 4,000 per second since 2015. By upgrading both hardware and software and gearing the features toward developers, the company aims to make Windows safer at the enterprise and individual level.  Hardware improvements  To start, Microsoft is enhancing “out of the box” hardware security by making sure all Copilot+ PCs will be Secured-core devices, according to the release. “Secured-core PCs provide advanced firmware safeguards and dynamic root-of-trust measurement to help protect from chip to cloud,” the blog states. More

Maria Diaz/ZDNETWhat’s the deal?The all-new Blink Mini 2 More

d3sign/Getty Images Last week, users over on Reddit began reporting a peculiar issue with iPhones and iPads that have been updated to iOS 17.5/iPadOS 17.5: Devices were mysteriously resurrecting old photos that had previously been deleted. And this glitch could potentially lead to embarrassing situations, as personal and sensitive images users believed were gone for […] More

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images Earlier this month, Apple and Google rolled out enhanced privacy features that monitor Bluetooth-enabled tracking devices to iOS and Android users. These features will alert users if someone else’s AirTag, Find My Device network-compatible tracker tag, or other industry specification-compatible Bluetooth tracker is moving with them.  Also: The best AirTag accessories you can buy But […] More

Paul Souders/Getty Images In a new white paper, Vendor Kernels, Bugs and Stability, the infrastructure software and Rocky Linux company CIQ presents a compelling argument that Linux vendor kernels are plagued with security vulnerabilities due to the flawed engineering processes that backport fixes.  Also: The top three Linux 6.9 kernel upgrades While this may shock […] More

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETIf you’re using Google’s Chrome browser, it’s time to update it — and fast.Google confirmed this week that it has released Chrome 125 for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The update includes a range of patches to security flaws, including a zero-day exploit called CVE-2024-4947. Zero-day exploits are vulnerabilities in software that malicious actors may know about and can easily target users because the software maker has yet to patch the flaw. And if that sounds familiar, it’s because Google released another patch last week to fix another zero-day exploit.Also: Meet Hackbat: An open-source, more powerful Flipper Zero alternativeCVE-2024-4947 refers to “Type Confusion in V8” Javascript. The flaw, which was discovered by security researchers Vasily Berdnikov and Boris Larin at security company Kaspersky, could enable hackers to target individual users and cause their browsers to crash. It could also be used to execute code that could put their data at risk.For its part, Google shared a few precious details about the flaw, saying instead that “access to bug details and links may be kept restricted until a majority of users are updated with a fix.” The company added that it’s “aware that an exploit for CVE-2024-4947 exists in the wild,” but it stopped short of providing details. More

Kerry Wan/ZDNETGoogle’s Android 15 is launching later this year. But Google is already talking about some of the important security updates users can expect when it’s made available.The tech giant said on Wednesday that it’s planning a host of security updates for Android 15 and its Google Play marketplace that could ultimately improve user security. In a blog post, Dave Kleidermacher, vice president of engineering, Android security, and privacy, said his company is committed to ensuring “user safety is a top priority.” The updates unveiled in his blog post center mainly on “fraud and scam protection features” that will close some of the loopholes malicious actors use to target Android users.Also: 5 exciting Android features Google just announced at I/O 2024That said, the updates will be coming to Android 15, an operating system that Google is currently testing in beta and won’t be made available to its entire user base until later this year. So, while the updates will undoubtedly help some users, their effect won’t be felt until Android 15 launches sometime this fall. More