Microsoft agrees to change Windows 10 update after Kaspersky antitrust battle
The two companies announced in independent blog posts this week that Microsoft has agreed to make changes to its Windows 10 Fall Creators update to satisfy allegations by Kaspersky that some of the company’s operating system updates were edging out third-party anti-virus companies.
Microsoft would make changes to its upcoming update to include giving third-party AV vendors earlier access and visibility into upcoming feature updates to ready their software, enable AV vendors to use their own alerts and notifications for expired or expiring product licenses, and providing more persistent notifications for users to renew their existing AV solution before it defaults to Windows Defender.
The changes come after months of allegations from Kaspersky over antitrust violations by Microsoft around the anti-virus market. Kaspersky filed an antitrust complaint in June over the issue, arguing that Microsoft didn’t give it enough time to make its software compatible with Windows 10, automatically deactivated third-party anti-virus software for its own Windows Defender solution. That action, Kaspersky said, limited the number of anti-virus offerings on a PC, and urged customers to replace third-party solutions with Windows Defender, among other claims.
Game of Thrones struck by fresh leak
this time, the source of the leak was not hackers or thieves, but rather the show being mistakenly released on to its broadcaster’s streaming platform too early.
The episode, titled Death is the Enemy, has since been withdrawn, but not before it was copied.
A spokesman for HBO Europe blamed an unnamed contractor for the most recent blunder. **un named contractors get a lot of blame these days
Bill Gates reduces Microsoft stake with $4.6bn donation
Bill Gates has given away US$4.6bn to charity in his largest donation since 2000.
The shares are equivalent to 5% of his total fortune, currently estimated to be $89.9bn.
Mr Gates’ share in Microsoft is now just 1.3%
Unsure of where this money was donated, however when federal documents are filed, it usually means new money is being given to a foundation,
This latest donation is the biggest charitable gift to have been made anywhere in the world so far this year.
The second largest was made by Mr Buffett, who donated almost $3.2bn to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation last month.
And the third biggest came from Dell Computer Corporation founder Michael Dell and his wife Susan.
In May the couple gave more than $1bn to their foundation, which focuses on children’s issues and community initiatives.
Being Default Search on iPhone Costs Google $3B
global asset management firm Bernstein stated that it believes Google will pay Apple $3 billion this year to remain as the default search option on iOS devices. So every iPhone or iPad sold will be set to use Google for search unless users take the time to pick an alternative. The majority never do.
the payment Google makes to Apple is almost pure profit for Apple. Google alone may account for 5% of Apple’s total operating profits this year, and may account for 25% of total company OP growth over the last two years
Teen Sent to Internet Addiction Camp Dies Within 48 Hours
BBC reports, “boot camps” for internet and gaming addictions have become popular in China, with some being criticized as using harsh military-style discipline on attendees. Some even beat patients or use electroshock therapy. The 18-year-old who died earlier this month in Fuyang had been sent to a camp that promised “psychological counseling and physical training
Two days after the teen was dropped off by his mother on Aug. 3, he was rushed to the hospital, where he died.
His parents say doctors told them their son’s body had sustained more than 20 external injuries and that he also suffered internal injuries. “My son’s body was completely covered with scars, from top to toe,” his mother told local media. His cause of death is not yet known, but the director and four teachers from the center have been held by police and the center is shut down as the investigation continues.
Aussie businesses targeted in spate of router attacks
Attackers are targeting Australian organisations with routers and switches exposed to the internet to steal configuration files and infiltrate their networks, the Australian Cyber Security Centre has warned.
The ACSC said it had identified a threat to switches with the Cisco smart install feature turned on, and routers or switches with simple network management protocol (SNMP) enabled and exposed to the internet.
It said attackers were extracting configuration files in order to nab admin credentials and compromise the router or switch, and potentially other devices on the network.
Smart install is used by admins to give a switch a minimal configuration that is fetched from a central repository, but organisations can become vulnerable when the feature remains turned on after the device is live.
Smart install has been replaced in newer systems by Cisco’s network plug and play feature.
Cisco’s smart install feature should also be disabled unless it is strictly required, the ACSC said.
It urged any organisations affected by these attacks to report the incident.
Aussie domain registrars sued over alleged fake invoice scam
Two Australian domain name registration companies are being taken to court by the competition watchdog for an alleged fake invoice scam that reaped $2.3 million from their customers.
Domain Name Corp and Domain Name Agency – both managed by the same director, Steven Bell – are alleged to have sent out 300,000 unsolicited notices to businesses that were designed to look like renewal notices for domain names.
The ACCC claims the notices were actually for the registration of a new .net.au or .com domain name at a cost of between $249 and $275.
he ACCC is seeking declarations, injunctions, pecuniary penalties, corrective advertising, and disqualifying orders against the director, as well as costs.
More than 14,500 people suffered a combined loss of more than $650,000 to false billing scams last year, according to the ACCC’s ScamWatch website.
SHAYNE
Australian Damien ‘kpii’ Chok earns around $A1 million in e-sport tournament
- SYDNEY’s Damien ‘kpii’ Chok has fallen just short of winning the richest tournament in e-sports history.
- The team won the nearly $A5 million second prize – which will see him take home around $A1 million – is a reasonable consolation.
- A crowdfunded $A30 million prize pool was on offer at the richest e-sports tournament in history, which saw the 18 best Dota 2 teams in the world travel to Seattle to battle it out in the five-on-five fantasy battle game.
FULL RESULTS
1st – $US10,807,349 – Team Liquid
2nd – $US3,929,945 – Newbee
3rd – $US2,579,026 – LGD.Forever Young
4th – $US1,719,351 – LGD Gaming
5th-6th – $US1,105,297 Virtus.pro and Invictus Gaming
7th-8th – $US614,054 – Team Empire and OG
9th-12th – $US368,432 – Team Secret, Evil Geniuses, TNC Pro Team and Digital Chaos
13th-16th – $US122,811 – Execration, Cloud9, Infamous, iG Vitality
17th-18th – $US61,405 – Fnatic and Hellraisers
Bill Gates just gave away about five per cent of his wealth, some $5.88 billion
- The 61-year-old Microsoft co-founder has just made a somewhat mysterious $5.88 billion donation to an as yet to be revealed recipient. That equates to about five per cent of his immense wealth.
- The Microsoft co-founder has reduced his stock in the computer software company from 24 per cent in 1996 to just 1.3 per cent today. Nonetheless he is still thought to have one of the biggest fortunes in the world, valued at around $115 billion.
- In a 2013 interview Bill Gates said his children would each be left with about $US1 billion each. The rest, about 95 per cent of his wealth, will go to charity within 20 years after he and his wife pass away.
- The story goes on to talk about some of his work with the World Health Org.
Yet Another Reason Amazon Australia Is Going To Be Huge
- New research shows most Aussie shoppers spend far more in an online store than in a bricks and mortar one.
- Only 21 per cent of us spend more in physicals stores than on online stores.
- Although Aussies are purchasing more online, 64 per cent of the respondents have returned online purchases; this figure being higher for those in their 20s, at 74 per cent, compared with 57 per cent of over-50s.
- Yet, the returns process is the number one online shopping headache for 30 per cent of all respondents.