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Question site "Quora" has become the latest high-profile hacking victim, with details of more than 100 million users breached. Fortunately, the implications likely won't be as serious as some previous hacks. The site lets users post questions and ... then get answers from other users. A voting system means more helpful answers from its community means the best answers float to the top. Quora says its systems were accessed without authorization and that it discovered the breach on November 30, 2018. It says the exposed information included account information such as name, email address ... (view more)

Security researchers have warned that nearly half of all phishing sites falsely display the browser padlock symbol commonly associated with secure websites. It's a reminder that the browser padlock symbol only covers one aspect of security. Most ... major browsers display the padlock symbol when a website uses a technology, most commonly Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), to encrypt data as it passes between the user's computer and the website, or vice versa. Such sites have an address starting "https://" rather than "http://". The purpose of the padlock symbol is to indicate to the user that the ... (view more)

One of the most useful features in computer hardware has a security flaw. It's to do with the way processors handle information. All computing tasks are reduced down to a set of calculations. The central processing unit (CPU) is the "brain" of the ... computer that physically carries out these calculations. Each modern-day CPU has one or more cores , which is essentially multiple "brains" on a single CPU chip. A multi-core CPU means that multiple calculations can be done at once, which reduces the time to carry out a task. Many processors also use a technique called ... (view more)

Light could be the key to solving one of the big problems of faster mobile Internet. But the technology, which uses spotlights to send out signals, has some limited range of uses. The technology developed by pureLiFi works on a simple principle: ... rather than using radio waves to transmit data (as does WiFi), it uses light waves. A demo of the system uses ceiling spotlights which blast out light in a cone shape. To the human eye it looks like an ordinary constant light supply. In fact it's actually flickering at incredibly high speeds to create a pattern. 5G Signals Hurt By Walls A plug-in ' ... (view more)

Google is to shut its social network Google+. Although the service was something of a flop, the closure is more to do with a massive data exposure. Google+ launched back in 2011 and was one of several attempts by the company to compete with the ... likes of Facebook. Its main selling point was the concept of Circles, which meant that users weren't restricted to sharing posts and updates with a fixed set of friends. Instead, they could write a post that was seen by a particular group, such as work colleagues or people with a shared hobby. Facebook does have such a feature, but it's not as ... (view more)

Google is under pressure to provide safer routes for pedestrians in its mapping tools. It's previously done so for cyclists, though hasn't yet pleased everyone. The latest call comes in international business newspaper the Financial Times. Special ... reports writer Madison Darbyshire highlighted a recent walk from a concert venue to a stop for a late night bus in which she used Google's suggested walking route. According to Darbyshire, "I found myself meandering along unlit side streets and away from the traffic that makes the city feel alive at all hours." (Source: ft.com ) Pedestrians Offer ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Bob S. writes: " Dear Dennis, ... [I run an accounting firm and was recently hit with a ransomware attack which encrypted over 70,000 of my files . I nearly lost everything, though I was finally able to overcome this and recover ... my data through your help] ... What I need is a comprehensive backup solution that will allow me to automate my backups - which means having the backup drive attached to my system 24/7 - yet, the backup drive must be protected such that ransomware cannot spread to the drive and encrypt my backup data. If that were to happen, my backups would be ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Bill K. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thanks for your excellent and concise explanations regarding VPNs (virtual private networks). I read with interest the latest article, ' Difference Between VPN Server and VPN (Service) ' and also ' ... Do I need a VPN? Are VPNs Safe for Online Banking? '. I was wondering if you could explain the difference between a VPN vs Proxy ? Which one is better? Can I use a Proxy with bit torrent or browsing the web anonymously? " My response: In this case, the term "proxy" refers to a "proxy server", which is a special use server online the Internet that is ... (view more)

Skype has added a new "private conversations" feature. Calls made this way will be encrypted so that it's impossible for anyone to usefully intercept or listen in. The data for such calls will use end-to-end encryption. That means the data is ... encrypted on one user's device and kept that way throughout its journey over the Internet until it reaches the other user's device. If the data is intercepted, it won't be of any use. The system will work on a "conversation" basis rather than a call-by-call basis. One user must select the feature, which will then send ... (view more)

Google has been tracking mobile device users movements even when they have "Location History" switched off. It turns out users need to turn off a less well-known setting to stop tracking altogether. The issue doesn't just affect devices running ... Android. Some iPhones are also affected if they have Google apps such as Maps or Search running. In theory, switching off the Location History setting on your device or in a Google account will prevent the company tracking and storing location information. The immediate effect is visible as the timeline feature in Google Maps will stop updating. ... (view more)