You probably know that you shouldn’t trust everything you see on Facebook, perhaps doubly so now that the platform seems to be about 80 percent AI-generated slop. But remember that this advice extends to advertising as well. Facebook ads have been used by hackers — as recently as this month — to spread fake Bitwarden password manager extensions for Chrome, which are infected with dangerous phishing tools. That’s according to Bitdefender, which details its investigation in a new blog post (spotted by BleepingComputer). According to the researchers, ads on Facebook pretended to offer Bitwarden, one of the most popular password managers on the market. The advertising indicates, falsely, that the viewer is “using an outdated version of Bitwarden” and that they must update it now to stay protected from “cyber threats.” I wonder if the people who make these ads are aware of the irony, or just don’t give a hoot. The campaign was detected as active as recently as November 3, 2024, specifically targeting users in Europe. Once users click on the ad, they’re redirected to a phony page that imitates the Chrome Web Store and the legitimate Bitwarden extension download page. But instead of the rather smooth process for installing officially supported Chrome extensions, they’re sent to a Google Drive page with a ZIP file to download. The page then guides the user through installing the fake Bitwarden in Chrome’s Developer Mode, an elevated privilege state that’s analogous to an admin account in Windows. The user is then instructed to load up the fake extension manually. From there, the fake Bitwarden spies on the user’s activity and gathers their cookies, IP address, and pretty much everything associated with their Facebook account, including user ID and password, personal info, and payment info. It’s everything the hackers need for identity theft — and depending on how much activity the user has on Facebook, a possible avenue to more direct attacks on financial accounts. Using a legitimate ad network to spread malware is nothing new, nor is imitating security software to prey on internet users’ fears. For the sake of completeness, I’ll point out that Bitdefender is technically a competitor to Bitwarden as both companies offer password manager apps. But Bitdefender’s research has never been less than reliable, even if the company has a vested interest in selling digital protection. Bitwarden (the real one) is pretty great, too. You can read my review of it here, and just in case you’re wondering, here’s the link to the real Chrome extension. Further reading: Why I pay for Bitwarden Premium even though the free version rocks Read...

Its reset feature would cleanse a user`s feed of personalised content suggested by algorithm. Read...

One of the things that may hold you back from using an old monitor for gaming, photography, graphics editing, or some other visual purpose is that it’s not displaying the kind of vibrant color you want or will find in a new monitor. There are different reasons that may be the case, ranging from your software settings to the hardware you are using. The good news is that most old monitors whose colors look washed out or inaccurate can be corrected to look a whole lot more colorful and vibrant. Here are the steps to follow to make that happen. Related: Best monitors 2024: Gaming, 4K, HDR, and more Ensure you have the right color profiles installed Windows 11 should automatically detect your monitor’s correct color profile and apply it, but if colors still don’t look right, there’s a chance the profile could still be wrong. You can update to the right color profile in Color Management in Windows 11. However, first you may need to download the correct color profile drivers from your monitor manufacturer’s website. You can follow this guide to do both of these things. Dominic Bayley / IDG Calibrate your monitor in Windows 11 By calibrating your display using Window’s 11’s Display Color Calibration, colors will appear more accurate. Calibrating is kind of a lengthy process, so once again you’ll want to follow a step-by-step guide to safely see you through. Dominic Bayley / IDG Adjust the color setting on the monitor itself To adjust colors on your monitor itself, locate the menu button and click it to bring up a list of options you can tweak. The ones to look out for here are “Color,” “Contrast,” and “Brightness.” Adjust these settings until the colors look as strong and vibrant as possible. Pexels: Mateusz Dach Check your cables If the cables between your video card and your PC, or your PC and monitor are cheaply made or defective your color problems may be due to signal loss from those cables. If you suspect you’re experiencing signal loss, simply swapping out the cables for better ones may fix your monitor’s color issues. Pexels: Stratha Nualsate Set your monitor’s native refresh rate A monitor not set to its native refresh rate can be a little-known culprit behind a monitor displaying washed-out color. One YouTuber only managed to identify the problem after trying a bunch of other fixes that didn’t work. To change the refresh rate on your monitor in Windows 11, open Settings and click on System. Now click on Display then Advanced Display. Select your monitor’s native refresh rate from the drop-down menu next to Choose a refresh rate, to set it as so. Dominic Bayley / IDG An extra step if you have a video card… If you have an Nvidia graphics card: Follow the steps above and then apply this extra tweak. Open up Nvidia Control Panel and select Adjust Desktop Color Settings. Now raise the slider for Digital Vibrance from what it was up to about 65. The colors on your display should look richer, brighter, and cleaner. If you have an AMD graphics card: Owners of PCs with AMD Radeon RX Series graphics cards or AMD desktop processors with Radeon graphics running Windows 10 or later, can improve their monitor’s color with Display Color Enhancement and Color Deficiency Correction in AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition. Any color changes can be made globally or applied specifically to individual games. If you’ve made these changes, you should now have an old monitor that looks colorful enough for just about anything you need it for. Now the only thing left to do is decide how best to use it. Read...

We love laptop deals, especially in the lead up to Black Friday. There are some truly great price drops going on, like this one we’re highlighting today that slashes hundreds of dollars off. Right now, you can get this MSI Katana 15 gaming laptop for $400 off at Best Buy, a significant discount off its original $1,500 price. This laptop is a top-notch beast that runs on an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor and 16GB of DDR5 RAM. The beauty of the Katana 15 is that if you feel like you need more oomph, you can easily replace the memory sticks and upgrade up to 64GB in total. It also has a 1TB SSD, plenty enough to hold all your videos, games, and apps. But the big winner here is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card, which is beyond what you can normally get in a laptop in this price range. Massive discounts like this are the only way to snag an RTX 4070 laptop for anywhere close to $1K. Rare as it is, that’s reason to rejoice and jump on this deal for this powerful machine. And that graphics card is going to look good on this laptop’s 15.6-inch 1080p display with 144Hz refresh rate, edging it closer to being the perfect machine for smooth, lag-free gaming. If you’ve been waiting for the chance to score an RTX 4070 gaming laptop for a truly affordable price, don’t miss this sale — grab the MSI Katana 15 for $1,100 at Best Buy! You rarely see RTX 4070 gaming laptops going for this priceBuy now at Best Buy Read...

Your email address is a liability when yet another of your accounts get hacked. After your login credentials are leaked, attackers can use those same credentials to try logging into different services across the web to see what else they might unlock. But there’s a better way — and Google seems poised to bring it to the masses. As spotted by Android Authority, a new “Shielded Email” feature in the Gmail app for Android devices is seemingly on the way. It would let you create disposable email addresses, or temporary burner email addresses that forward email to your real account. My colleague Michael Crider covered how Shielded Email could serve as a defense against spam, but there’s another payoff to this privacy protection: stronger online security. Using a random, unique email address for every account you have would make it harder for hackers to use data leaks to break into other accounts of yours. This is the same principle as masked email, but with one big advantage: you don’t need to sign up for a separate service. With almost 2 billion users already signed up for Gmail, the new Shielded Email feature would level up standard privacy, big time. If offered for free, it would also eclipse Apple’s equivalent feature, Hide My Email, which is only available to paying iCloud+ subscribers. I’m rooting for this feature to make it out the starting gate. Google’s been strengthening its security and privacy features, like dark web monitoring and improved passkey support in its password manager, without gating it behind a Google One subscription. With how bad data leaks and breaches have gotten lately, the smart way to avoid hackers who are exploiting current conventions is to change them altogether. Read...

GlobalLogic has been named a Leader in the 2024 ISG Provider Lens Generative AI Services Report, showcasing its prowess in enabling generative AI integration. Read...

If your laptop doesn’t have enough storage space, or if you just need more space to store your files offline, then a portable SSD might just be the exact thing you need — and right now, you can get one of our favorite portable SSDs at a significant discount. All capacity models of the Samsung T7 Shield portable SSD are currently on sale on Amazon: the 1TB model is down to $100 (41 percent off), the 2TB model is down to $170 (40 percent off), and the 4TB model is down to $286 (43 percent off). These are huge savings on one of the best portable SSDs we’ve ever tested. When we reviewed the Samsung T7 Shield, we gave it a 4.5-star rating and our Editors’ Choice award. Our reviewing expert found it to be speedy, reliable, rugged, and stylish. One of the best parts about this travel-friendly drive is that it has IP65 water and dust resistance, meaning it’s perfect to take with you anywhere you go, even on outdoor adventures. It’s also shockproof, so both the drive and your data on the drive will survive drops. Plus, it’s so small and light, you won’t even notice it in your pocket or your bag. The Samsung T7 Shield is compatible with pretty much any device you have, from laptops and desktops to smartphones and gaming consoles. With read/write speeds of up to 1,050/1,000 MB/s, even the largest videos will transfer in no time flat. If you need convenient portable storage, now’s the time to snag one because these prices are simply fantastic: 1TB for $100, 2TB for $170, and 4TB for $286. Don’t miss out on this deal! Get the 1TB Samsung T7 Shield for $100Buy now on Amazon Get the 2TB Samsung T7 Shield for $170Buy now on Amazon Get the 4TB Samsung T7 Shield for $286Buy now on Amazon Read...

Sonatype has been named a leader in Software Composition Analysis by Forrester, praised for its high performance in security and dependency management. Read...

As AI reshapes software development, industry leaders warn it may increase complexity and architectural challenges rather than solve them, urging teams to adapt. Read...

Knowing where your keys are at all times, or where your luggage is when you’re traveling, is essential for peace of mind — and one way to do that is to clip tiny trackers onto them. And right now, the best smart trackers from Samsung, Apple, and Tile are on sale! The Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2 is down to $21.20 at Amazon, a 20 percent discount from its original $30. This smart tag connects to your phone via Bluetooth and the SmartThings app. When out of range, you can still get its location as long as another Samsung phone is within its range. If you’re thinking of getting more than one, the four-pack for $61.77 (down from $100) is a better investment. The Apple AirTag is also on sale for its best-ever price of $20, down from $29. This tracker pairs with iPhones and/or iPads and allows you to keep track of your stuff through the Find My app. When out of range, it pings off of nearby Apple devices, much like the Samsung one does. This one also has a better-value four-pack for $73, down from $99. Lastly, Tile’s 2024 model tracker is now just $20, a 20 percent discount from its $25 MSRP. This one works with both iOS and Android devices. When out of range from your own device, the Tile pings off the devices of other Tile users. The four-pack is $65, a good $15 off full price. There’s no excuse! No matter which device ecosystem you’re in, there’s a compatible smart tracker on sale — and this is something you’re going to want to have on hand before your stuff goes missing. Get the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2 for $21.20Buy now on Amazon Get the Apple AirTag for $20Buy now on Amazon Get the 2024 Tile tracker for $20Buy now on Amazon Read...