Latest Tech News

Your iPhone could be a step closer to replacing your wallet after Apple revealed its Tap to Pay contactless mobile payment technology is partnering with some of the biggest payments firms around.

The service will soon be offered as an option on the iOS apps for PayPal and Venmo, meaning merchants who already use these services will have more ways to accept payment without the need for cash.

Launched in February 2022, Tap to Pay is Apple's big bet on contactless payments, allowing iPhone users to pay or send money using Apple Pay and contactless debit or credit cards with just their phone, no other hardware required.

PayPal support

It was PayPal, rather than Apple, that broke the news in its latest earnings report. 

"Leveraging Apple's Tap to Pay on iPhone technology, U.S. merchant customers will soon be able to accept contactless debit or credit cards and mobile wallets, including Apple Pay, using an iPhone and the PayPal or Venmo iOS app," the company noted.

Following its initial announcement, Apple launched Tap to Pay on iPhone in June 2022. This came after trailing a partnership with PayPal's great rival Square, to build the service into the latter's POS systems. 

With it, Apple hopes to make accepting payments via Apple Pay and other types of contactless payments accessible to more businesses.

The feature is available on phones including and newer than the iPhone XS, with merchants simply needing to open the app, register the sale, and accept contactless payment using their device.

Read more

> Apple could be working on a whole host of financial and banking tools

> Amazon will now let you pay using Venmo

> We've rounded up the best ecommerce platforms

PayPal also revealed that it will soon start offering ‌Apple Pay‌ as a payment option in checkout flows on merchant platforms, as well as allowing users in the US to add PayPal and Venmo network-branded credit and debit cards to their Apple Wallet, meaning these methods can be used wherever ‌Apple Pay‌ is accepted.

The news is Apple's latest push into the lucrative payments space as it looks to maximize its potential returns. 

Alongside its contactless offerings, the company also recently moved into the buy now pay later (BNPL) space with the launch of Apple Pay Later, which lets shoppers split the cost of a purchase made with their device into four equal payments over six weeks, without incurring interest or late fees.

• We've also featured the best mobile card payment readers

Via MacRumors

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U.S. Bank: 2022 Home Equity Review - CNET

This lender offers fixed-rate options and high loan amounts.

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Latest Tech News

AMD, Seagate, and EY have joined the Decentralized Storage Alliance, a new organization aimed at promoting the benefits of a decentralized approach to storage. 

Decentralized storage is a technology where data is stored on a distributed network run by computers, or nodes, located across multiple locations. 

The new organization, which also includes blockchain firms Protocol Labs and the Filecoin Foundation among its founding members, will reportedly focus on "driving awareness and adoption" of decentralized technologies such as the cryptocurrency  Filecoin, file sharing network IPFS, and peer-to-peer network stack libp2p.

Why use decentralized storage?

In comparison to the currently omnipresent public cloud storage model, decentralized storage will mean that the centralized control and orchestration server will require significantly fewer resources, due to much of the work being taken up by other machines on the network.

However, as not all computers over a distributed network can always be relied upon, there is generally some level of duplication involved.

What will the new organization do?

The Alliance will allegedly create a “trusted forum” where organizations can collaborate to accelerate the adoption of decentralized storage technology.

This will include developing standard specifications and reference architectures that address the "unique needs" of enterprise companies and providing access to education materials, technical resources, and best practices.

In addition, the organization will look to improve the process of onboarding data to decentralized storage networks and make it easier for new data centers to onboard to the network.

Decentralized storage may be a word that we could be hearing a lot more of in the future.

READ MORE:

> The next generation of compute hardware should be a lot more secure

> The Airbnb of Cloud storage has amassed one million TB of storage worldwide

> Our guide to the best cloud backup 

According to research from IDC commissioned by Protocol Labs almost 86% of organizations had a positive view of decentralized storage.

“As a company with a global SaaS blockchain solutions business, we see decentralized storage as an opportunity to diversify and add resilience to our data infrastructure,” said James Canterbury, Partner and Principal at EY Blockchain. "And we see the Alliance as a crucial piece of this – enabling adoption of decentralized storage and cohesion across the broader industry."

• Interested in taking a more conventional approach? Check out our guide to the best cloud hosting

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Best Streaming Services for K-Dramas - CNET

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Buy As Many Stamps As You Can Before the End of the Year. Here's Why - CNET

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Latest Tech News

Your next Microsoft Teams meeting could soon be a lot more structured thanks to a new update to the software's seating arrangements.

The video conferencing platform will now allow users to assign specific seats when using Microsoft Teams Together Mode, which allows meetings to take place in a virtual lecture hall, meeting room, and more.

So, just like back at school when you chose the seat closest to all your friends, you could now theoretically arrange your virtual meeting room to be next to the people you like most. Or, if you wanted to be professional, you could arrange your virtual seating plan so that it went in order of the team-mate or colleague giving their project update or latest news.

All in order

The news was revealed in a Microsoft Tech Community blog post rounding up some of the recent updates from the company's Ignite event that may have gone under the radar.

Holly Lehman, Microsoft Teams product marketing manager, wrote that the change will make meeting participants “feel like they’re in the same room during virtual meetings." Both meeting organizers and presenters will be able to assign seats during a call, meaning you may find yourself shuffled around multiple times.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

To activate the feature, users will need to toggle Together Mode on for all call participants. Doing so will then bring up a new screen where participants can be assigned seats in the virtual view, with organizers able to search for specific attendees or pick from a list of everyone that was invited to the call.

Read more

> Here's our list of the best headsets for conference calls right now

> There's now a new 'premium' version of Microsoft Teams

> Microsoft Teams is officially more popular than email for most businesses

Launched in the summer of 2020, Together Mode for Microsoft Teams brings all attendees into a shared virtual background, with the goal of “making it feel like you’re sitting in the same soom with everyone else”.

A recent update now means that meeting hosts have the option to enable Together Mode for all participants in a bid to help foster togetherness for those teams perhaps still seperated. Users can also now activate Together Mode across Teams calls of all sizes, even one-on-ones.

The change is the latest upgrade for Microsoft Teams, which also recently released an "Interactive Large Gallery" upgrade that includes feeds from even more people than ever before, with users able to view up to 49 video participants at once.

• Check out our list of the best collaboration tools out there

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Latest Tech News

Many individuals working across US government agencies and organizations are using smartphones with outdated operating systems, putting both them and the organizations they work for at major risk of identity theft, data leaks, and other forms of cybercrime.

A report from cybersecurity experts Lookout analyzing some 200 million devices and 175 million application, between 2021 and H2 2022 found US government workers are rather slow when it comes to mobile phone updates. 

In fact, ten months after iOS 15 was released, 5% of federal government employees, and almost a third (30%) of state and local government devices, were still running older versions of the operating system.

Security risks

But iOS is a closed ecosystem in which Apple builds and pushes updates to all iOS-powered devices - whereas Android is much more decentralized and thus, riskier. 

When Google releases a new update, it first needs to be adopted and tweaked by device manufacturers (for example Samsung, LG, Asus, OnePlus, and even Google itself) before being pushed to their respective endpoints. 

That makes Android updates significantly slower to roll out compared to iOS. As a matter of fact, ten months after releasing Android 12 (which was the latest version at the time of the analysis), 30% of federal devices, and almost 50% of state and local government devices, were still sporting older versions. 

Read more

> Millions at risk as old operating systems still power 1/10th of Android devices

> Android 11 still isn't on as many phones as Android 10

> These are the best Android antivirus apps so far

Running outdated versions of the operating system is a major cybersecurity risk, because older versions have known vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can easily exploit to bypass mobile antivirus solutions and deliver all kinds of nasty malware. 

At one point, older versions reach end of life and stop receiving support through security updates. In other words, if a vulnerability is found after end of life, it will stay unpatched, giving threat actors an easy way into the devices.

Google, for example, no longer supports Android 8 and 9, which are still being used by 10.7% of federal government employees, and 17.7% of state and logal government employees. According to BleepingComputer, these two versions have two thousand known vulnerabilities that will never be fixed. 

• Check out the best firewalls out there

Via: BleepingComputer

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Apple TV Plus: Every New TV Show Arriving in November - CNET

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Latest Tech News

Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter is being used by scammers as a lure to steal login credentials from “famous or well-known” persons, or those believing to fit the category. 

A new phishing campaign is based around Elon Musk’s plan to monetize Twitter’s Blue Checkmark, a symbol given to accounts whose identities have been verified and is used to minimize impersonation fraud that’s rampant on the platform.

In the phishing email, it is said that the blue checkmark will soon cost $19.99, but only for those who are not “famous or well-known”. Those that fit the category will be able to use the feature for free, all they need to do is confirm their identities. 

Providing crooks with sensitive intel

As usual with phishing emails, this one comes with a “Provide Information” link, where victims are redirected to verify their identities. The site is a Google Doc under a Google Sites URL. The landing page comes with an embedded frame that’s actually hosted on a Russian hosting platform.

Read more

> Crypto scams are now a billion-dollar market

> A deepfake of Elon Musk is trying to scam people out of crypto again

> These are the best firewalls out there

The whole campaign is relatively amateurish and brimming with red flags. The email is being sent out from a Gmail address (twittercontactcenter), rather than Twitter’s domain, which is arguably the biggest red flag. Then there’s the fact that the blue checkmark won’t cost $19.99, but $8, as was confirmed by the platform. Lastly, there is absolutely no reason for the feature to be free for famous persons.

Other common indicators of phishing emails are the omnipresent sense of urgency (phishing emails always try to scare people into recklessly doing something), as well as typos, spelling errors, and other mistakes.

TechCrunch says Google took down the phishing site soon after being tipped off on its existence. 

• Check out our list of the best endpoint protection software right now

Via: 9To5Mac

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Latest Tech News

Cybersecurity firm Bitdefender has launched a new tool that provides real-time chat protection for mobile-based instant messaging applications. 

Dubbed Bitdefender Chat Protection, the tool apparently alerts users if malicious links are received or sent during live sessions over the world’s most popular chat software, including the likes of WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, and Discord. 

The tool works via Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android, its consumer-facing platform tool for monitoring, detecting, and stopping link-based attacks delivered via messaging applications, notifications, and SMS text messages. 

How does it work?

The solution continuously monitors chat sessions, alerting users of suspicious links that might attempt to steal financial data, credentials, or other sensitive information.

When malicious links are detected during chat sessions, the user then receives a warning along with information about associated risks and a suggested course of action.

If warnings are ignored, built-in web protection technologies prevent the user from navigating to the malicious webpage.

For example, if users receive a suspicious link via their messaging applications, notifications, or text messages they are notified to prevent accessing or sharing the link.

If a potentially dangerous link is inadvertently shared, users will also have the option to recall or delete the message.

In addition, Bitdefender claims the new tool can detect phishing attempts that rely on human curiosity, urgency, and impersonation.

“Mobile threats continue to increase, and cybercriminals have evolved beyond email-based phishing attacks to include SMS text messages (smishing) and popular instant messaging applications,” said Ciprian Istrate, senior vice president of operations, Consumer Solutions Group at Bitdefender.

“With the new capabilities in Bitdefender Mobile Security for Android, users can rest easy and chat safely knowing they have strong, real-time protection against malware, malicious links, and scams across their Android devices.”

READ MORE:

> Phishing attacks are getting more and more sophisticated

> The most popular brand for phishing attacks might surprise you

> Our guide to the best endpoint protection

The tool is already available for current and new customers and can be purchased from bitdefender.com or Google Play Store.

The news comes as messenger apps remain a popular endpoint used by cybercriminals to access systems.

A recent report from Armorblox found an unknown threat actor pretending to be WhatsApp targeted almost 30,000 endpoints and managed to circumvent Microsoft and Google email security filters in the process.

• Interested in getting better protection for your organization? Check out our guide to the best firewalls

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What's Next for Inflation Following the Latest Fed Rate Hike? - CNET

Higher rates and rising prices are hitting American workers with fixed wages the hardest.

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Volvo EX90 Electric SUV Teases a Slippery Shape - CNET

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Latest Tech News

Meta has updated its professional mode setting to help its users monetize the content they create.

Some of the new features available now allow content creators to build a public following, boost SEO, and earn money from various programs on existing Facebook profiles.

With building an online presence in mind, the Facebook tool also includes analytics and enhanced well-being features to help users stay safe on the social media platform.

Professional mode for all creators 

Meta started testing professional mode back in 2021, and is currently still working on new formats for users to earn money for the reels they share. This includes the testing of Ads on Facebook Reels on professional mode, as well as a new subscription model similar to YouTube.

Right now, US creators are able to apply to join a feature called “Reel Play” on Facebook, which is a bonus program that enables users to get paid for reels uploaded onto the platform.

Read more

> How to change your Facebook password or reset it

> Facebook may finally be adding this vital security tool to Messenger

> 9 ways to build a free website without a site builder

“Professional mode allows you to build a global audience of followers, while still staying connected to friends and family from your personal Facebook profile. As you post public content, you’ll have access to features designed to help you obtain and engage new followers - that were previously only available on Pages,” Meta wrote in a blog post.

Creators on the professional mode setting also get access to a profile category directly on each individual’s profile, which will enable the brand created by the user to appear under their name when people search on Facebook.

Subscriptions are being introduced and tested on professional mode to allow fans to level-up their support for you and your work, and provide you the opportunity to build deeper connections with your most loyal followers by sharing subscriber-only content.

In the same way a website builder service offers a dashboard to keep track of a site’s performance, Meta has also introduced “Professional Dashboard”, a one-stop hub that allows users to view audience and profile insights, as well as the performance of the content created and uploaded.

Additionally, Meta has updated its scheduling software, Post Composer, to allow its users to create a timetable for uploading content.

• Check out our list of the best social media management tools available 

Via TechCrunch

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2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE Sedan Starts at $76,050 - CNET

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