Tech Knock

B elieve it or not, there is still a large number of people who use passwords such as “password,” “password123”, “[dog’s name]1” and others along the same lines. And in the era of sophisticated hacking, these passwords are not exactly “safe.” Before me, this is the first thing websites should inform you while setting up a password. But apparently, many big names are not doing enough to encourage non-terrible passwords, according to  the new research . Steve Furnell from the University of Plymouth has been keeping tabs on the websites like Amazon, Reddit, and Wikipedia for many years, carrying out similar assessments in 2007, 2011 and 2014. His 2018 survey examined practices of Google, Facebook, Wikipedia, Reddit, Yahoo, Amazon, Twitter, Instagram, Microsoft Live, and Netflix. The study concluded that Amazon had the worst performance among all the names. It nearly accepted every kind of password of any length. On the other hand, Yahoo and Wikipedia even allowed passwords w

I n an announcement that’ll surely spark the interest of Windows enthusiasts, Synaptics hinted at a new “next-generation” operating system from Microsoft. This announcement took place during a conference, where Synaptics and AMD shared their plans to work together to secure the operating systems with a new kind of fingerprint sensor. Here’s what the press release from Synaptics actually said: Further, the new “biometric security OS” gets a mention again along with Windows Hello. The partnership with AMD will reportedly let Synaptics use FS7600 Match-in-Sensor technology, which is completely isolated from the rest of the system and operating system for extra security. It goes without saying that you need to take this news with an extra pinch of salt than the regular rumors that keep making rounds. The next-gen OS from Microsoft could be merely the next significant Windows 10 upgrade. In case you’re a person who loves to think more positively, it could also be Microso

A new security feature named ‘Site Isolation’ has been introduced for Google Chrome 67 which would nullify the effects of speculative execution side-channel attacks like Spectre. To put things to the perspective, Spectre is one of the two fundamental design flaws in the  modern processors, which allow programs to get access to the data for which it is not authorized. Malicious data can exploit this flaw to steal your password and other personal information. What is Site Isolation? The new Site Isolation feature introduced in Google Chrome 67 brings about a fundamental change to Chrome’s architecture. Now, Chrome has changed how its multi-process architecture worked and different tabs used different render processes. According to the new architecture, Chrome limits each renderer process to a single site. By this separation of processes, Google aims to prevent direct memory reading across different processes to safeguard users’ data. According to Google’ official blog pos

A fter Whatsapp’s efforts to curb fake news, it’s Twitter turn to put the kibosh on the number of fake accounts on the platform. As reported by the New York Times, Twitter will start deactivating “tens of millions” of fake accounts from today onwards. The move is targeted at restoring the trust of users on the platform after a rise has been seen in the number of fake followers obtained through unfair means. Many accounts have been ‘buying’ followers to increase their influence and social status. As a result of this move, people who have aggregated followers by fraud and users who are followed by fake accounts can see a substantial decline in the number of their followers. It is expected that the mass deletion of fake accounts will reduce the total follower count on the platform by 6%. According to an estimate by Twitter, an average user would lose not more than four followers from their list of followers. It goes without saying that, the number can be larger for the accou

E very week or the other, Microsoft releases a new build for the fast ring insiders. The latest Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17713 bring a pack of surprises for Windows users. Redmond always listens to users, and this time, they have heard to Notepad users who were fed up with the uninteresting interface. Microsoft is giving its text editor Notepad new features after a very long time. Yes, the very same app that people use to write random text, create batch files and HTML pages, etc. Among the new Notepad features being added to Windows, you would be able to zoom into text by using the mouse wheel while holding down the Ctrl key. A long requested feature is coming for users; Microsoft is adding ctrl+backspace support to delete a previous word. Other than these, you will now have the ability to wrap around find and replace. Also, the status bar is now enabled by default in Notepad. There are few performance improvements for large files. These changes will arrive on

B e it Samsung, HTC, or any big device maker, all fall short against Google’s rigid policies. To use Google Play Store in addition to a basic Android package from Android Open Source Project (AOSP), OEMs have to abide by an agreement which forces Android-powered smartphones to come with pre-installed Google apps. But EU regulators are not satisfied with the present policies and may fine Google in billions, according to a report from Washington Post.  Margrethe Vestager, the European Union Competitive chief, has argued that Google search and web browsing tools ensure Google’s dominance in maintaining its own app ecosystem. This gives the company upper hand over other third-party applications. If it happens, this will be the second time Google will be slapped with a fine from EU. Back in 2016, Google was fined 2.7 billion dollars for manipulating search results, offering the top position to its own shopping comparison website. If the regulation goes into action, Google wo

Microsoft D eploying artificial intelligence to replace human beings is not as easy as it sounds. It has been found that some of the startups and tech companies prefer humans working behind the false label of AI because it is cheap to hire workforce than to build the technology from scratch. This concept of Pseudo AI has been on the rise lately. According to Gregory Koberger, CEO of ReadME, “using a human to do the job lets you skip over a load of technical and business development challenges. It doesn’t scale, obviously, but it allows you to build something and skip the hard part early on.” A recent article by the Wall Street Journal reported that many third-party app developers make use of human beings rather than using artificial intelligence to go through the personal messages of users. Citing an example, Edinson Software, a San Jose based company, allowed their “artificial” engineers to scan personal email messages of users to improve a smart replies feature. This wa

E x-Google designer and present vice president of design at Dropbox Nicholas Jitkoff has created a new web tool using which you can create your own microsites which are “contained entirely within their own link.” The tool named as Itty Bitty creates a compressed link of HTML and other data which can be shared with others. When the URL is opened, the data is loaded on the receiver’s side. The most amazing thing about the microsites created from Itty Bitty is that the site is not hosted on any server making it entirely private. I’ve made you an itty bitty experiment just in time for independence day– a tool to create websites contained within their own link.   https://t.co/uc1ZIIJYNV  – a brief summary   https://t.co/1RMAW3amKO  – how it works What might you make with it?   https://t.co/53RmE6CPP8   pic.twitter.com/y0aUY242CZ — Nicholas Jitkoff (@alcor)  July 4, 2018 You can compose directly on the website with the basic HTML features, add emojis, ASCII codes and fo

W e have entered deep into the digital era, and it’s hard to find a place that’s not crowded with electronic devices. Out of them all, the smartphone is the one people keep with themselves all the time. And there is a special category of humans who prefer iPhone over any other smartphone. It doesn’t matter what device you use data gets stacked over time, including contacts, photos, videos, etc. The case of iPhones is not different. That’s why users create backups of the same from time to time. But dark days could arrive anytime; people might end up losing access to their backup files. Probably, because they forgot their password. That’s when software like iTunesKeycome into the picture. It’s makers claim that iTunesKey can help recover iTunes backup files for a variety of Apple devices. iTunesKey Overview Look & Feel The iTunes recovery software sports a simple look in a fixed size window that may annoy the users who like run apps in full-screen mode. All the optio

I t’s unfortunate to hear that social media platforms that were meant to “connect” people are becoming hotbeds of fake news with harrowing consequences. Fake news regarding child kidnappings, sexual predators, and thieves spreads like fire on social networking apps. And the Facebook-owned WhatsApp is the most prominent in it. All of this has led to lynchings and killing of close to 30 innocent lives in India for past two months. On Tuesday, India’s electronics and IT ministry issued a statement in which it conveyed “deep disapproval” of such incidents to the senior management of WhatsApp. The statement stated WhatsApp couldn’t “evade accountability and responsibility.” The government has ordered WhatsApp to contain the spread of such “irresponsible and explosive messages” through the use of appropriate technology. WhatsApp had acknowledged the chilling issue in a letter sent to the government on Wednesday and said it’s working on changes to fight fake news and hoaxes on

L ast year, when The Pirate Bay was first caught mining cryptocurrency without notifying the users, it created lost of havoc in the pirate community. While some supported the decision by calling it a way to assist the website operations, others expressed concern. The Monero cryptocurrency miner has been found to make an appearance once again, according to TorrentFreak. As per a user who was trying to upload torrents to The Pirate Bay, his CPU got “really hot” during the process. Upon inspecting the source code, he found the  crypta.js  mining script. “Shame we aren’t asked if we want to run it.” The report suggests that the miner was throttled to 0.9; in the past incidents, it was found to be between 0.6 and 0.8. While in-browser crypto mining is often cited as a replacement for the intrusive advertisements being served in all nooks and corner of the web, forcing the users to share the CPU processing power without their consent seems little disturbing. How to block

L ast year, Google was criticised for accessing users’ inbox to show them relevant ads. In the time that followed, the search giant stopped its practices, but the ability for third-party apps to look into people’s Gmail inbox remained intact. Recent reports have suggested that not just the computers and apps, even third-party developers are able to read people’s emails. And the practice doesn’t happen without the explicit consent of the users which doesn’t explicitly mention that the data accessed would be viewed by human eyes. Google has also clarified that Gmail access to third party apps isn’t given without them being subjected to a thorough vetting process. Anyway, there may or may not be some evil mind trying to access your Gmail. But taking an extra step towards your privacy and security is a must. You can find out what apps can look into your Gmail inbox. How to check and disable apps from accessing your Gmail account? Every setting associated to your Google a