Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge It’s an awful feeling realizing that your internet speed is far slower than what your provider promised. But according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission could be doing very little to force providers to live up to their customers’ expectations. According to the WSJ, companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast have worked to influence the reports and have used a variety of tactics over the years to boost their numbers. In doing so, the FCC’s reporting system could be showing connection speeds that are far faster than what customers actually get. Toward the… Read More
Continue ReadingMalware variety sees major growth in 2019
New research from Kaspersky has revealed that malware variety grew by 13.7 percent in 2019 and the cybersecurity firm attributes this growth to a rise in web skimmers. According to the Kaspersky Security Bulletin 2019, the number of unique malicious objects detected by the company’s web antivirus solution increased by an eighth compared to last year to reach over 24m due a 187 percent increase in web skimmer files. Kaspersky also found that other threats such as backdoors and banking Trojans grew while the presence of cryptocurrency miners dropped by more than half. Hackers publish details on critical Magento flawStop using outdated software like Windows 7, Kaspersky saysThese were the… Read More
Continue ReadingNew Orleans Government Hit With Cyberattack
The city of New Orleans has been hit with a cyberattack, and employees have been asked to turn off computers as a cautionary measure. City employees began having problems with their computers around 11 a.m. local time, according to spokesman Beau Tidwell. It isn’t yet clear if the cyberattack included ransomware, in which computers are rendered inoperable until money is paid to the hacker. Ransomware attacks have become increasingly common against cities and other government agencies. “Out of an abundance of caution, all employees were immediately alerted to power down computers, unplug devices & disconnect from WiFi. All servers have been powered down as well,” a tweet from New Orleans’… Read More
Continue ReadingJumanji: The Next Level is less fresh this time around but still lots of fun
<img width="150" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/jumanjiTOP-800×531.jpg" alt="Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson, and Karen Gillan star in Jumanji: The Next Level.”> Jumanji: The Next Level.”> Enlarge / Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson, and Karen Gillan star in Jumanji: The Next Level. (credit: Sony Pictures) The intrepid gang of teens who played their way out of a video game two years ago is back and facing a new in-game adventure in Jumanji: The Next Level, the latest installment in the popular franchise that originated with the 1995 film Jumanji. It’s a solid sequel, following the same winning formula that made its predecessor such a big success. (Spoilers for 1995’s Jumanji and 2017’s Jumanji:… Read More
Continue ReadingApple’s new Screen Time Communication Limits are easily beaten with a bug
Enlarge / iOS 13 on an iPhone 11 Pro. (credit: Samuel Axon) A bug in iOS 13.3 allows children to easily circumvent the restrictions their parents or guardians set with the Communications Limit feature in Screen Time. Apple has said it plans to fix the problem in a future software update. The iOS 13.3 update released earlier this week added the ability for parents to whitelist contacts for their kids to communicate with. Kids need the parents to input a passcode to talk to anyone not on the list, with an exception made for emergency services like 911. It was the flagship feature of the update. Yesterday, CNBC published a… Read More
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