Technology

A security flaw affecting the Google Pixel’s default screenshot editing utility, Markup, allows images to become partially “unedited,” potentially revealing the personal information users chose to hide, as spotted earlier by 9to5Google and Android Police. The vulnerability, which was discovered by reverse engineers Simon Aaarons and David Buchanan, has since …

AI technology seems to be finding its way into every industry from fast-food chains to delivering packages to automatic self-driving vehicles. Now, some companies are also incorporating AI security guards to keep their businesses safe. However, I’m not so sure these bots can be reliable. Let’s see how the robot …

As part of this change, Twitter will also turn off 2FA for your account completely if you don’t switch away from SMS verification or pay for Blue before that deadline, leaving your account vulnerable to hacking. Fortunately, you can still enable 2FA for free using an authenticator app, like Google …

Some security steps are common knowledge. I don’t need to remind you to install that latest update on your computer, right?  Others are less obvious. Do you lock your computer every time you get up? Unless you live alone, you should. Here’s the easiest way to do it if you’re …

A new report from the cybersecurity company Feroot Security reveals that TikTok can track you even if you’ve never used the app before. This deeply concerns me and comes as the Biden administration still debates whether the popular social media app should be banned here in the United States. Here’s …

Recently, Bloomberg ran a story that set the health tech sphere abuzz. Citing insider knowledge, it claimed Apple had reached a major milestone in noninvasive blood glucose monitoring that could revolutionize diabetes treatment as we know it. But although this technology is buzzworthy, you won’t see it arrive on the …

There have been plenty of allegations over the years hinting that Facebook is listening to us through our smartphone microphones. Although the company has denied it countless times, there are thousands of people claiming online that this must be true. Why do people believe Facebook is listening to us? CLICK …

The FBI has arrested the person allegedly in charge of the BreachForums online hacking community, as reported earlier by Krebs on Security and Bleeping Computer. Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, also known online as “Pompompurin,” was arrested at his New York home on Wednesday and charged with conspiracy to commit access device …

Hey, Howard P., I’ve got the help you need.  Thanks for sending in this smart question:  “We only use my cell phone at home now. Is there a gadget that will ring loud when someone calls my cell phone so I can hear it? The ring on the cell phone …

Two men have been charged for their alleged roles in last year’s hack of the Drug Enforcement Agency’s web portal, as reported earlier by Gizmodo. In a press release posted earlier this week, the Department of Justice says Sagar Steven Singh and Nicholas Ceraolo stole a police officer’s credentials to access …

Chinese hackers are reportedly getting more sophisticated with their attacks on government and business networks.  Over the course of the past year, researchers at Google’s Mandiant division have uncovered hacks of systems that are not typically the targets of cyber espionage, according to The Wall Street Journal, with hackers using …

Microsoft is trying to make it easier to share your experiences with its GPT-4-powered Bing Chat by adding a button that lets you post the AI’s response to Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. People have already been sharing the interesting (and sometimes upsetting) things that the chatbot has been saying via …

The year 2023 is turning out to be the year of drone delivery.  Several startups have been hard at work testing, learning and honing their ability to deploy a network of drones for efficient delivery.   Instant gratification in getting a last-minute item, prescription drug and fast food in record time …

Growing up, I learned The Way Things Work from author David Macaulay’s incredible illustrated books. This week, I was surprised to see Macaulay’s endorsement in my inbox for a new illustrated explainer by a different author — but the surprise didn’t last long. Fifteen minutes after I began skimming through …

TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat are purposefully designed to be addictive platforms that have “carefully cultivated” a mental health crisis among U.S. students, a Silicon Valley school board alleged in a lawsuit. The San Mateo County superintendent and school board also alleges in the lawsuit filed Monday that the tech companies …

Not every matching vacation rental listing on popular vacation rental home sites like Airbnb and Vrbo are the same.  The identical short-term rental on one site may be more expensive than another.  Expensive fees are often added to the price you see and only when you get the final booking …

With multiple configurations and various models to choose from, finding a deal on a Mac equipped with an M-series chip is not all that difficult. It’s sometimes a slightly different story for the MacBook Pros with beefier M1 Pro and M1 Max CPUs, but with a little luck, you can …

I recently received this email from Almyra S. Here’s what she’s asking:  “Hello Kurt, I have a question for you. Do you know if Cyrus online shopping is real?  Or is it a fake… the things they have are super cheap. Like I mean, a laptop for $9.99, a TV, …

We might be approaching a point where there are, in fact, too many video game remakes and remasters. Off the top of my head, there’s The Last of Us Part I, Demon’s Souls, Shadow of the Colossus, Metroid Prime, Dead Space, and soon, Silent Hill 2. But no one has …

A recent report from MIT is revealing that researchers at the institute have invented a new kind of augmented reality headset that would give you X-ray vision. However, the headset is raising major privacy concerns as it may allow you to see through walls, which could enable you to spy …

Good news for nostalgic millennial gamers: Hyperkin’s remake of the Xbox 360 controller is inching closer to release. The Xenon controller was first announced by Hyperkin back in November, but not much solid info was given outside of some renders and the basic knowledge that this reissue will be a …

China accused the U.S. on Thursday of spreading disinformation and suppressing TikTok after reports that the Biden administration had called for the popular social media platform’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, Ltd., to sell its stakes in the app.  Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters that America has not presented evidence …

Microsoft is announcing a new AI-powered Copilot for its Microsoft 365 apps and services today, designed to assist people with generating documents, emails, presentations, and much more. The Copilot, powered by GPT-4 from OpenAI, will sit alongside Microsoft 365 apps much like an assistant (remember Clippy?), appearing in the sidebar …

With inflation causing the prices of everything to skyrocket, many are feeling the pinch and looking for ways to save every penny they can. From grocery shopping to purchasing household goods, stretching your dollar as far as it used to go can be super challenging. Fortunately, numerous price comparison apps …

TikTok is facing a direct challenge to its continued operations in the US. The Biden administration is reportedly demanding that TikTok be sold off from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or face a potential ban. The demand was first reported by The Wall Street Journal and later by The New …

I know I need a good night’s sleep to really take on the day and function well. However, sometimes I find myself tossing and turning in the night trying to get myself to fall asleep, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. A recent sleep study conducted using Apple …

ChipMixer, a cryptocurrency mixing service with ties to the hacks targeting FTX and Axie Infinity, has been pulled offline by the FBI, Europol, and other international authorities. In a press release published Wednesday, the Justice Department says authorities seized $46 million worth of cryptocurrency along with the service’s domains and …

AT&T has notified around 9 million of its customers about a marketing vendor the company used that was hacked in January, exposing the private information of these wireless accounts. Here’s what we know and what tips we can give you to protect yourself. CLICK TO GET KURT’S CYBERGUY NEWSLETTER WITH …

Bethesda’s Ghostwire: Tokyo, which is equal parts action-packed and creepy, is finally coming to Xbox consoles soon. The developer announced that the game will be available on the Xbox Series X / S, as well as Xbox Game Pass, starting on April 12th. Ghostwire originally debuted last year on both …

Millennials and Gen-Zers of the world have really taken technology and run with it, which is understandable considering they grew up with it at their fingertips. Although sometimes it’s difficult to keep up with all the latest slang, and even I have trouble with it. So, let’s go through some of …

Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company founded by ex-OpenAI employees, has launched its AI chatbot, Claude. While the tool does much of what OpenAI’s ChatGPT can, Anthropic says its early clients report the tool’s “less likely to produce harmful outputs” and is “easier to converse with.” Like OpenAI, Anthropic also has …

NASA is looking to develop a space tug that will safely deorbit the International Space Station come 2030.  In the White House’s 2024 federal budget request, the administration requested $27.2 billion in discretionary budget authority for the fiscal year. That sum includes $180 million; it is initial funding for a …

Remember when I told you how Epic Games accidentally revealed a new version of 2007’s Unreal Tournament 3 that would be completely free on Steam, EGS and GOG with “no microtransactions and no strings attached?” That was three months ago. Unreal Tournament 3 X still hasn’t been announced, and the …

tech I’ve been answering tech and digital-lifestyle questions on my national radio show and podcast for many years. At this point, I’ve heard it all. I also notice trends. Sometimes, everyone wants to know about app privacy. Use these steps to stop companies and people from tracking your every move. …

HP is preventing more customers from using third-party ink with their printers. Numerous reports scattered across Reddit, Twitter, and the HP community forum suggest that a recent printer firmware update is blocking the use of non-HP ink as part of the company’s stringent “dynamic security” policy, as first reported by …

We recently received this email from a CyberGuy reader asking an important question about QR codes: Can you recommend a QR code reader that one will not be required to set up an account? In the App store, they all contain ads and in-app purchases. Many want you to allow them …

Imagine if Clippy didn’t suck and instead made genuinely helpful suggestions to ensure the content you create is accessible to as wide an audience as possible. That’s the idea behind a new tool Microsoft announced today at its annual Microsoft Ability Summit. The new “Accessibility Assistant” for Microsoft 365 office …

Quickly silence your ringer on your phone It’s always embarrassing when your phone accidentally goes off at the most inopportune times. Make sure you know how to turn your ringer off quickly so that it never goes off during an important event or when you are supposed to be quiet.  …

Silvergate Bank, which had been a cornerstone in the crypto world, announced it’s closing and returning deposits. In a press release, the bank’s holding company, Silvergate Capital Corporation, said it made the decision to shut down “in light of recent industry and regulatory developments.” It’s been clear for a while …

U.S. National Security Agency Director Paul Nakasone warned Tuesday about the influence of TikTok.  Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, he voiced his concerns regarding the Chinese-owned video app’s data collection and potential to facilitate broad influence operations. “TikTok concerns me for a number of different reasons,” the director …

Update, March 8th, 7PM ET: Silvergate has announced it is shutting down, the original story follows below. Silvergate, one of the most important banks in crypto, is in big trouble. Maybe existential trouble. Silvergate didn’t start in crypto. It started in real estate. But in January 2014, the bank jumped …

It is no secret that prices for pharmaceutical drugs are expensive, especially if you do not have great insurance or no insurance at all. Add to that the fact that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 50% of Americans take at least one prescription medication, with …

After spending more than $1 billion on podcast assets, challenging investor skepticism, laying off dozens of podcasting employees, and parting ways with its main podcasting chief, Spotify is establishing its focus for the vertical moving forward: more video, more consolidation, and more splashy names. At the company’s Stream On event …

Yes, you read the headline correctly. The United States Defense Department recently confirmed that artificial intelligence successfully flew a jet similar to an F-16 for 17 hours straight. How did this flight happen? The jet was flown over a series of 12 flights back in December 2022 at the Edwards Air Force …

Less than six months after it debuted on the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple’s Dynamic Island has made it to an Android phone as a native feature. The Realme C55, which just launched in Indonesia (via GSMArena), includes a feature the company is calling the “Mini Capsule,” a pill-shaped black bar …

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had its eye on Twitter since well before Elon Musk bought the outfit, but now we have a better idea about what questions it’s been asking lately. Not only have the investigations continued, but the FTC has been looking into the company’s abilities to keep …

This question came in from Jeff M., who wants my tech advice on a delicate family situation. Here’s what he has to say: Hi Kurt. I wanted to reach out to you for some advice. My wife is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. She has trouble turning the TV …

Even a brief unintentional glimpse at those sorts of images “will be removed and will result in an enforcement,” the company writes. And if you intentionally promote, create, or share deepfake porn, that’s grounds for an instaban: doing that “can result in an indefinite suspension on the first offense.” The …

You use your computer daily, although I bet you rarely, if ever, consider that someone could be spying on you through your built-in camera on a laptop or a standalone camera that connects via USB. Worse thing is that you wouldn’t even know it. Your webcam can seriously threaten your privacy, …

Sad you missed out on all the good Amazon streaming device deals we saw before the Super Bowl? Turn that frown upside down, because today, they’re back on sale again — and at the perfect time, too, given that we’re just days away from the season finale of The Last …