FBI Warns Users About Free File Conversion Sites; Microsoft Kills Blue Screen of Death; Microsoft Introduces Windows 11 Quick Machine Recovery … and More!
Every day, we scan the tech world for interesting news, sometimes from outside the tech world. Every Thursday, we feature news articles that grabbed our attention over the past week. We hope you find this week’s ‘Thursday Newsbytes’ informative and interesting!
What to look out for and how to stay safe
Regardless of how tech savvy you may be, chances are you’ve likely turned to a free online file converter for help with quickly changing a file from one type to another. However, you may want to think twice before doing so, as the FBI is now warning that hackers are using these free tools to spread dangerous malware to vulnerable PCs.
Whether you want to change a PDF to a DOC or a WebP image to a JPEG, it’s easy to get stumped on the best way to convert one popular file type to another. Sure, Microsoft Office and other writing tools have this functionality built in, but in the heat of the moment, it’s easy to open up your browser and search for a free file converter online.
In a new post, though, the FBI Denver Field Office explains that cybercriminals have seized this opportunity to create malicious sites that instead of converting one file type to another actually install malware on your computer…
Microsoft kills the iconic Blue Screen of Death. It looks like this now
We’re all familiar with the Windows BSOD, but Microsoft is now making it simpler in appearance—and getting rid of the blue.
Every Windows user has encountered the legendary “Blue Screen of Death” (or BSOD for short) at least once. More than anything else, the infamous error screen is characterized by its bright blue color, the sad smiley face, and the bluntly plain “An error has occurred” message, which all make the screen so instantly recognizable.
But Microsoft is now changing the design of the blue error screen and breaking with tradition. In fact, it won’t be called a “blue screen” anymore because, at least in the current preview version of Windows 11 24H2, the error screen is now completely black. (For Windows Insiders on test versions, the error screen will be green instead.)
It’s not just the color. Other iconic elements are also apparently being removed, as Windows Latest has discovered. For example, it no longer displays a sad smiley face or a QR code…
Millions of free VPN users have inadvertently sent their data to China
Turbo VPN, VPN Proxy Master, Thunder VPN, Snap VPN, and Signal Secure VPN are all linked to a sanctioned Chinese firm
Millions of free VPN users in America have sent their data to China without knowing it. At least five of these services are linked to Qihoo 360, a Shanghai-based firm hit by US sanctions in 2020 for alleged links with the Chinese military.
These are the worrying findings from an investigation carried on by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) into the top 100 free VPN apps on Apple’s official app store in the US. Overall, experts found 20 apps had undisclosed Chinese ownership and had been downloaded more than 70 million times.
The China-linked VPN apps are also currently available in both Apple and Google’s official app stores in and out of the US, the UK included. This indicates that the real number of impacted users is likely to be even higher.
The danger of China-linked VPNs
While the best VPN services boost your online anonymity and security by encrypting your internet traffic and spoofing your IP address, malicious apps pose great risks to your privacy.
That’s because providers can potentially read the internet traffic rerouted via their servers. “That risk is compounded in the case of Chinese apps, given China’s strict laws that can force companies in that country to secretly share access to their users’ data with the government,” TTP experts noted.
Worse still, understanding the real ownership behind these free VPN applications isn’t easy…
Windows 11’s new headline security feature is now in testing — here’s how it can help your PC
Quick machine recovery can detect, diagnose, and resolve issues on Windows 11 PCs.
Keeping your Windows 11 PC healthy is about to get easier. Microsoft is testing a new feature called quick machine recovery among Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel.
Quick machine recovery detects issues and applies fixes automatically from the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE).
If a PC faces critical boot failure, the device will enter WinRE and send diagnostics to Microsoft. Quick machine recovery will then apply the fixes.
Microsoft announced quick machine recovery at Ignite 2024. The feature allows IT admins to execute targeted fixes remotely.
Microsoft outlines changes and availability in its blog post about Windows 11 Build 26120.3653…
John Lennon and George Harrison pictured ‘now’ in startling AI images as new film announced
John Lennon and George Harrison have been dead for a combined 69 years – and artificial intelligence has now revealed what they might have looked like today.
The Beatles guitarist and singer John – who always said he hated one Paul McCartney song and mainly wrote songs solo before collaborating as a duo on final adjustments – was assassinated in 1980 when he was just 40. While lead guitarist George – who fought to have The Beatles record their ‘greatest’ song together – died of lung cancer aged 58 in 2001.
After a major film announcement involving four Hollywood stars was made today (April 1), we asked AI imaging software Midjourney to imagine what the two deceased members of the legendary band would look like if they were still with us…
Thanks for reading this week’s Thursday Newbytes. We hope these articles were informative, interesting, fun, and helpful.
