Security

Microsoft recently made a pretty bold claim in saying that the security tools built into Windows 11 are enough to keep users protected. It was back in January that the company used an article in the Windows Learning Center to talk about the built-in security provided by Microsoft Defender Antivirus.

It suggested that “for many users, this level of protection is plenty”. In April, Microsoft then reworked this article into a blog post claiming that third-party antivirus software is not needed. Now the company has removed the blog post in which it had made this claim.

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Gmail may be incredibly popular, but that does not mean that there are no concerns from users. Being a Google product, Gmail users often voice concerns about privacy, and rival Proton Mail is only too happy to offer a solution.

Proton would, obviously, prefer that people used its own email service, but is aware that switching email addresses is not a small undertaking. This is why the company has produced Easy Switch, a tool to help  you bring your Gmail data into Proton Mail, and gradually transition to the more secure and private service.

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The non-consensual sharing of intimate images has been a problem of the internet ages, but it is one that has become more severe in recent times. This is partly because of the advance of artificial intelligence, and Microsoft is doing what it can to help protect people.

The company already has various protections in place across its range of services, and now it has announced that this is expanding. Microsoft is working with a number of organizations to share information, resources and technology to help keep people safe from having their likeness abused.

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Discord has made good on an earlier promise to increase security and privacy by enabling, by default, end-to-end encryption on all voice and video calls on the platform.

Encryption uses the open-source DAVE protocol, and this means that no one – including Discord – is able to access calls.

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Another month, another update for Windows which is problematic. This time around, it is the May 2026 Windows 11 security update – or the KB5089549 update.

The good news is that the problem is not too widespread, but that will come as cold comfort for anyone who has been affected. The problem sees installation of the update failing with a 0x800f0922 error.

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Microsoft has released the KB5083631 preview update for Windows 11 24H2 and Windows 11 25H2. The focus of the update is wide-ranging, fixing various known problems as well as improving performance and security.

It also sees the start of the rollout of Xbox mode as well as a number of new features for File Explorer.

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Google has now extended Gmail’s end-to-end encryption to include iOS and Android devices. In bringing E2EE to mobile devices, Google is making it easier to send and receive encrypted messages without the need for third party tools.

No action is needed for anyone who has the Gmail app installed as encrypted messages will be delivered in the same way as non-encrypted ones. For anyone who does not have the Gmail app, a web browser can be used to read encrypted messages.

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Meta has issued warnings to hundreds of users after it discovered a malicious version of the WhatsApp chat app was being distributed by an Italian spyware maker.

The Italian group SIO is said to be behind the app which was being used to target iPhone users – although it did not make its way into the official App Store. The fake app was primarily targeting users in Italy, although not exclusively.

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Around six months ago, Google started beta testing ransomware detection in Google Drive. The security feature for the cloud storage platform also included a preview od file restoration. Now both features are rolling out to everyone.

The general availability of file restoration and ransomware detection is a step forward in not only security protection, but also in limiting the impact that malware can have should it slip through the net.

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Firefox is rolling out a free built-in VPN that offers users up to 50GB of protected browsing each month, placing IP masking directly inside the browser itself. The VPN will available initially in beta form to desktop users in the US, the UK, Germany, and France.

Every website visit automatically shares an IP address so the site knows where to send information back to the device. That same address can also hint at a person’s location and allow browsing activity to be linked across multiple sites.

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For a long time, container images have been treated as a starting point rather than something to examine closely. Teams pull what they need, build on top of it and move on. It works, which is part of the reason it rarely gets questioned.

Lately, that has started to change. As more systems rely on containers in production, there is more attention on what is actually inside those images. Not just the application code, but everything underneath it. That includes dependencies, base layers and packages that may not have been reviewed in a while.

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Canonical has announced a collaboration with Microsoft to integrate Ubuntu Pro security features with Microsoft Defender, improving protection for enterprise Linux systems. This brings advanced threat detection and response tools into Ubuntu environments, giving organizations a more unified way to secure critical workloads across platforms.

Linux is at the center of many enterprise systems, from cloud infrastructure to databases and transaction platforms, so tightening its security is a clear priority. Canonical connecting its Ubuntu Pro service directly with Microsoft Defender means firms running Ubuntu will be able to plug into Microsoft’s broader security ecosystem without needing to stitch separate tools together.

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Kingston Technology has announced IronKey Locker+ 50 G2, a new hardware-encrypted USB flash drive that promises secure data storage. The device uses AES 256-bit hardware encryption in XTS mode and includes protection against threats such as BadUSB attacks and brute force password attempts.

The IronKey Locker+ 50 G2 will be available in a choice of capacities ranging from 32GB to 256GB and come with a five-year warranty and technical support from Kingston.

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End-to-end encryption has become a stable security feature for messaging apps and services, but Meta is taking the decision to remove it from direct messaging in Instagram.

Citing the fact that “very few people” were opting to use end-to-end encryption, Meta does not see the point in continuing to offer it. The company suggests that anyone who is concerned about the loss of this security measure should think about shifting their messaging to WhatsApp.

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Emergency updates for Windows 11 have become increasingly common of late, and Microsoft has just pushed out yet another out-of-band update. This time around it is enterprise users receiving a patch, in the form of the KB5084597 hotpatch update.

Available for Windows 11 versions 25H2 and 24H2, the update addresses an RRAS RCE flaw. Left unpatched, the vulnerability could allow for malicious code to run on a targeted device.

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