Wednesday Newsbytes – News for You – 040622
Every day we scan the tech world for news that affects all of us who use Windows computers. Every Wednesday, we feature some of the news articles that grabbed our attention over the past week. We hope you find this week’s “Wednesday Newsbytes” informative and interesting!
Latest Amazon scam threatens to lock your account forever, and it’s easy to be fooled
THERE’S a shock (sic) new Amazon scam landing into email inboxes that claims customers are about to see their accounts locked for good.
If you get an email from Amazon warning that your account has been suspended and all orders have been cancelled, you need to be onhigh alert. The mammoth online retailer is being targeted by scammers, who are using the popularity of the brand to trick customers into handing over personal details, including full usernames and passwords. The nasty hack, which has been spotted by Express.co.uk, claims that users are about to be locked out of their accounts permanently due to suspicious activity.
Scammers are texting you from your own number now — here’s what to do if that happens
Have you been getting weird text messages lately — from yourself?
Don’t worry, you’re not alone, and you’re probably not having an out-of-body experience. The latest trend in spam text messages involves mobile phone users receiving texts from what appears to be their own phone number.
The messages typically claim to be from the user’s wireless carrier, referencing the recipient’s wireless bill and including a link to a “free gift.” Spoiler alert: The link leads to potentially malicious websites instead, according to users on Reddit and Twitter.
It’s all potentially very confusing. Here’s what you need to know about these spam texts, and what you can do about them:
Hackers have found a clever new way to steal your Microsoft 365 credentials
Static Web Apps are the latest weapon in the scammer arsenal
Cybercriminals have started using Static Web Apps, an Azure service, in their phishing attacks against Microsoft 365 users.
Researchers from MalwareHunterTeam noted Static Web Apps have two features that are being abused with ease – custom branding for web apps, and web hosting for static content such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or images.
These features have been used by threat actors to host static landing phishing pages, the researchers are now saying. These landing pages look almost identical to official Microsoft services, with the company logo, and the Single SignOn (SSO) option that harvests Office 365, Outlook, or other credentials.
Windows 11 is getting a huge upgrade to make your life easier
Windows 11’s File Explorer is about to get a lot smarter
Windows 11 is roughly six months old, and to mark the occasion Microsoft today (April 5) unveiled a slew of upgrades it has planned for the latest version of Windows.
Most of them are marketed as making the operating system a more viable productivity platform for remote and hybrid workers, but there are a few upgrades that should make Windows 11 more usable for everyone. Most notably, the Windows 11 File Explorer is getting a big overhaul that will see it redesigned with tabs, a favorites menu, and even its own home page.
We first spotted Windows 11 File Explorer tabs in a preview build last month, and today during an online event aimed at business professionals Microsoft gave us a look at what the final version will look like once it rolls out to Windows 11 users later this year.
Sure, the big flashy new addition is a system of organizable tabs that let you manage multiple directories in a single window (rather than having to open new File Explorer instances). This is a welcome change that’s long overdue, as now that I’ve imagined a File Explorer with tabs I can’t imagine any reason why I’d ever go back.
But there are some other intriguing File Explorer updates in the works that could significantly shift how we use this hoary old app.
Thanks for reading this week’s “Wednesday Newbytes”. We hope you found these articles useful, informative, and helpful. Be safe! Darcy & TC