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Windows enthusiasts are always coming up with ways to tinker with the operating system to change the aesthetics, minimize bloatware, or sometimes just have fun and push the limits of what they can do. Now, an app has turned up that’ll allow you to take a trip back through time and run Windows 11 in a Windows 10 environment - sort of. Confused? Well, don’t be, let us explain…

YouTuber LagLife is the developer of the RevertSV app which allows Windows 11 users to revert the OS back to the Windows 10 user interface. What the app is doing, however, is basically reskinning Windows 11 (in a very fancy way), so effectively you’ve got all the perks of Windows 11, but with the thrill of not having to look at it! You’ll have the Windows 10 interface (or a lot of it) instead.

RevertSV is the product of some three months of work by LagLife, and there’s now a release version that Neowin spotted, which can be downloaded at the Internet Archive. While this is billed as a release build - and it certainly works, according to the YouTube footage (from the developer and others elsewhere on the platform) - there are certain caveats here.

It’s based on Windows 11 21H2, notably, which is long out of support, and there are various bugs and issues - Windows search doesn’t work properly for many users, for example, which is a major downer. Clearly, this is not something you’ll want to run on your actual PC, and as Neowin recommends, it’s an app that, if you want to try out, you should only do so on a virtual machine. 

Or, more likely, you can just marvel at the YouTube demos of RevertSV, like the one put together by LagLife below.
 

Not everyone is a fan of Windows 11, of course, and the OS has struggled in terms of its popularity. Even though it’s almost three years old now, Windows 11 has only just hit 30% adoption. Admittedly, some of that is down to the hardware requirements (which are more stringent than Windows 10), but it’s also possibly due to unwanted features and AI or adverts getting everywhere and off-putting interface changes (of which there are a fair few).

Windows 10 is still king of the Microsoft desktop OS arena, and that might mean when RevertSV is finished and polished - and LagLife offers the “script to revert an existing install to Windows 10 UI in one click” that the developer promised in their first YouTube video for this project, there might be quite some uptake for this clever little creation.

There are probably a fair few folks out there who would want the features of Windows 11, but without the look of the new OS - benefiting from the classic Windows 10 interface instead.

Personally, I’m keen for the RevertSV app to be finished and perfected so I can go back in time to when I was just a teenager in computer science class messing around.

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To help turn its plans into reality and edge it closer to the dream of 10,000TB capacity cartridges, Cerabyte has secured a strategic investment from Pure Storage, which itself is developing large capacity storage, with its eye on 1,200TB SSD modules.

Cerabyte aims to create a new tier of accessible, permanent, and sustainable data storage, extending from petabyte to exabyte-scale data center racks. This persistent media technology can retain data for extremely long periods without consuming power.

Cerabyte’s ceramic-based data storage does not suffer from bit rot or silent corruption, which threatens data integrity over time. Instead, it provides an immutable record of the original data required in an increasing number of use cases, especially in the era of AI.

Towards the Yottabyte Era

“Pure’s investment in Cerabyte and our joint partnership will allow us to offer customers sustainable and immutable data storage solutions that are revolutionizing the industry,” said John (Coz) Colgrove, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Pure Storage. “By disrupting the archival storage market, we are paving the way for longer-lasting and easier-to-manage long-term storage.”

We’ve written about Cerabyte previously. The startup is working to solve the problem of data storage by taking a leaf out of the ancient Egyptians' practice of chiseling hieroglyphs into rock. Its much more modern solution involves using a femtosecond laser pulse to inscribe data in QR code-like patterns onto ceramic, a material that can survive for over 5000 years.

Christian Pflaum, CEO of Cerabyte, said, “As the industry is heading towards the Yottabyte Era, sustainable data storage, which eliminates the need for data migration and thereby scales down the energy footprint and TCO, will be critical to harness the data tsunami ahead. We are thrilled to partner with Pure Storage to commercialize ceramic data storage and welcome John to our Board of Directors.”

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Pakistan is the latest country to ban the use of VPNs in the country – although it isn't its first attempt.

The Pakistan Tele­communication Authority (PTA) Chairman, retired Major-General Hafeezur Rehman, announced on August 2nd, 2024 that the organization was working on a plan to regulate the use of VPNs. It intended to only allow providers that it deems to be compliant and would block those that don’t meet its yet-to-be-announced criteria.

This follows a move by the country to restrict access to social media sites such as X (formerly known as Twitter) which has been banned since February of 2024. VPN usage surged following the ban as internet users tried to find other ways to access the site, with Surfshark, one of today's best VPNs, claiming that new user sign-ups jumped by over 300% immediately after the ban was put in place.

It seems, however, that the Pakistani government has finally had enough of people evading the ban.

Understanding the ban

The PTA claims that only 30% of internet users in Pakistan connect through a VPN but there's currently no way to verify that claim, and with many VPNs offering obfuscated connections, there’s never going to be any real way to come up with a definitive figure. 

Rehman also claimed that 56% of the Pakistani population now has internet access, which works out to around 97 million people. If “only” 30% of that total is impacted by this legislation, then that's still potentially 30+ million people who will need to find another way to access the social media platform.

Potentially 30+ million people will need to find another way to access the social media platform

As mentioned above, I would be remiss if I  didn’t point out, however, that this isn't the first attempt by the PTA to try and regulate VPN usage in the country. In 2020 the PTA introduced new regulations that didn't try to ban the use of VPNs, but instead required users to come forward and tell their ISPs (Internet Service Providers) that they were using a VPN.

If they wanted to keep using the VPN, then the user would then need to share their CNIC (Computerised National Identity Card) number as well as explain exactly what they would like to use the VPN for and what IP address they will be using to connect to the VPN – which would utterly defeat the point of using the VPN in the first place.

The PTA tried to claim that this move was to support the IT sector in Pakistan and to  "promote the safety of telecom users" but it seems not a lot of people agreed as they again tried to get people to register their VPN usage again in 2022 with a new "simplified" process. Presumably, this second attempt was met with the same low number of takers as the first and now they've simply accepted that their citizens don’t really want to tell the government why they want to use a VPN.

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Shockbyte has been offering Minecraft server hosting since 2013, and while that’s still what the company is best known for, it also offers hosting for other major online games, such as ARK: Survival Evolved, Team Fortress 2, 7 Days to Die, and Rust. 

Developed by Facepunch Studios, Rust is a popular survival game where players gather resources, build shelters, and survive in a harsh, open-world environment filled with threats from both wildlife and other players. It is consistently ranked as the 12th most played game on Steam and has a daily player count exceeding 100,000.

Shockbyte has entered into a partnership with Facepunch Studios to offer exclusive in-game content for Rust players. When gamers purchase their first Shockbyte server through the in-game button, they will receive a unique Rust server skin for the Tool Cupboard, transforming it into a cool 1980s server rack, complete with flickering dials, lights, and a telephone.

Shockbyte Tool Cupboard

To qualify for this exclusive skin, which is only the second-ever skin for this item in the game, players need to purchase a Shockbyte server for at least one month via the in-game button. As you might expect, refunding the server will result in losing the skin.

Rust has consistently maintained a top 15 position among the most played games on Steam, underscoring the game's popularity. The exclusive in-game skin, called the "Shockbyte Tool Cupboard," is designed to encourage more players to take the plunge and offer their own game servers. We've rounded up the most popular game server hosting providers and it probably won't come as a great surprise to anyone that Shockbyte comes in as our number one.

The Australian player-owned firm offers server hosting in North America, Europe (UK, France, Germany, and Poland), Singapore, and Australia, and if you have an existing server, you can easily swap providers to take advantage of the new skin. Pricing for Rust server hosting starts at $9.99 a month.

Currently, the Shockbyte Tool Cupboard is only on Rust's testing branch, but it will be made more widely available soon.

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Artificial intelligence-powered video maker Runway has added the promised image-to-video feature to its Gen-3 model released a few weeks ago, and it may be as impressive as promised. Runway has enhanced the feature to address its biggest limitations in the Gen-2 model released early last year. The upgraded tool is miles better at character consistency and hyperrealism, making it a more powerful tool for creators looking to produce high-quality video content.

Runway's Gen-3 model is still in alpha testing and only available to subscribers who pay $12 per month per editor for the most basic package. The new model had already attracted plenty of interest even when it came out with only text-to-video capabilities. But, no matter how good a text-to-video engine is, it has inherent limits, especially when it comes to characters in a video looking the same over multiple prompts and appearing to be in the real world. Without visual continuity, it's hard to make any kind of narrative. In earlier iterations of Runway, users often struggled to keep characters and settings uniform across different scenes when relying solely on text prompts. 

Offering reliable consistency in character and environmental design is no small thing, but the use of an initial image as a reference point to maintain coherence across different shots can help. In Gen-3, Runway's AI can create a 10-second video guided by additional motion or text prompts in the platform. You can see how it works in the video below. 

Stills to Films

Runway's image-to-video feature doesn't just ensure people and backgrounds stay the same when seen from a distance. Gen-3 also incorporates Runway's lip-sync feature so that someone speaking moves their mouth in a way that matches the words they are saying. A user can tell the AI model what they want their character to say, and the movement will be animated to match. Combining synchronized dialogue and realistic character movements will interest a lot of marketing and advertising developers looking for new and, ideally, cheaper ways to produce videos. 

Runway isn't done adding to the Gen-3 platform, either. The next step is bringing the same enhancements to the video-to-video option. The idea is to keep the same motion but in a different style. A human running down a street becomes an animated anthropomorphic fox dashing through a forest, for instance. Runway will also bring its control features to Gen-3, such as Motion Brush, Advanced Camera Controls, and Director Mode.

AI video tools are still in the early stages of development, with most models excelling in short-form content creation but struggling with longer narratives. That puts Runway and its new features in a strong position from a market standpoint, but it is far from alone. Midjourney, Ideogram, Leonardo (now owned by Canva), and others are all racing to make the definitive AI video generator. Of course, they're all keeping a wary watch on OpenAI and its Sora video generator. OpenAI has some advantages in name recognition, among other benefits. In fact, Toys"R"Us has already made a short film commercial using Sora and premiered it at the Cannes Lions Festival. Still, the film about AI video generators is only in its first act, and the triumphant winner cheering in slow-motion at the end is far from inevitable.

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Cybercriminals found a way to send millions of “perfectly spoofed” phishing emails thanks to a vulnerability in Proofpoint’s email relay servers.

Experts from Guardio Labs revealed the phishing campaign started in January 2024, and was sending out an average of three million emails daily. In early June, it peaked with 14 million emails being disseminated.

The researchers dubbed the campaign “EchoSpoofing”, noting the crooks were able to get their phishing emails properly DKIM signed, and SPF approved. What tipped researchers off, though, was that all of the emails were dispatched from one specific family of relay servers - pphosted.com - which is owned and operated by the email security vendor Proofpoint. 

Bypassing spam filters

To the recipient, the email looks as if it is coming from a legitimate business. The businesses being spoofed here all seem to be Proofpoint’s customers, mostly Fortune 100 companies. These include Disney, IBM, Nike, Best Buy, and Coca-Cola, to name a few. 

“These emails echoed from official Proofpoint email relays with authenticated SPF and DKIM signatures, thus bypassing major security protections — all to deceive recipients and steal funds and credit card details,” the researchers concluded. 

Guardio Labs said that all major email platforms, including Gmail, failed to flag these emails as spam, and instead allowed them straight into people’s inboxes. The emails scared the victims with fake account expirations, payment and renewal requests, and similar, all with the goal of harvesting payment and personally identifiable information. 

Proofpoint said it had been keeping an eye on the EchoSpoofing campaign since March 2024, and that it provided new settings, and advice, on how to prevent such attacks in the future. The company provided a detailed guide on how users can add anti-spoof checks, and more.

Via BleepingComputer

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As you're getting ready to hit the beach or travel to the Paris Olympics, beware: travel applications are among the most data-hungry and privacy-unfriendly apps.

Cybersecurity experts at NordVPN, one of the best VPN providers on the market, have found the likes of Booking, Airbnb, and FlightRadar24 request some of the most unnecessary permissions to access your device functions. Put simply, they want to access your data even when it's unrelated to fulfilling their performance, including some of the most sensitive information like your biometrics details.

All this is bad for your privacy, especially when considering the ever-growing threat of data breaches involving big companies. Booking.com, for instance, was the target of a major phishing campaign last year. While it may be unimaginable to plan your holiday without one of these apps, there are still some actions you can take to protect your privacy when using them.

Travel apps: "Over 28% of permissions are excessive"

"Travel apps are among the most eager to request access to devices' functions that are not needed for their performance. Collected data could be used against the user's interests and lead to privacy issues that are way more serious than targeted ads," said Adrianus Warmenhoven, cybersecurity advisor at NordVPN.

According to researchers, every travel app asks for an average of 23 device permissions, including access to your travel location, photos, or videos. More than six of these permissions are unnecessary, though, as the application doesn't need such details for its functionality.

The travel category was also found to be particularly eager to access your biometrics details. This is a highly sensitive piece of information as it deals with system-critical processes - think of device unblocking, multi-factor authentication, or online payments. On average, travel apps request nine special, dangerous, and biometric permissions.

Besides travel apps, social networking, health and lifestyle, and navigation applications are some of the most unfriendly apps for data access and unnecessary permission requests. You can read the full findings of NordVPN's research here.   

How to stay safe when using travel apps

Let's face it, in today's digitalized world it would be foolish to think that we can avoid using some travel apps when we plan or go on holiday. Yet, we can still do so while protecting our privacy.

Did you know?

A virtual private network (VPN) is also a very handy tool when traveling. Besides protecting your data and devices when connecting to unsecured public Wi-Fi, a travel VPN also allows you to keep streaming all your favorite shows while traveling abroad.

As a rule of thumb, Warmenhoven recommends downloading travel apps (and any other application, for that matter) only from official stores or websites. This is because, he explains, unofficial app stores won't always have systems to check whether an app is safe before it's published and available to download. Criminals are also infamous for using insecure applications to spread malware attacks.

According to Warmenhoven, you should also take some time to familiarise yourself with the app's privacy policy before downloading it. He especially recommends checking what information the provider will record about you and share with third parties.

As we have seen, reviewing your app's data permissions is also crucial. "Users should always consider whether the app needs certain data to do its job before tapping 'Accept,' even if the app is developed by a well-known and trustworthy traveling service provider," said Warmenhoven, suggesting particular attention to permissions like camera, microphone, storage, location, and contact list.

You should avoid automatically signing in with social network accounts, too. If you do so, the app will be able to collect information from the account and vice versa.

Lastly, remember to delete apps you don't use. Why risk your privacy for an application you're not even using?

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