Amazon has been in hot water with the Federal Trade Commission since 2014 for not warning parents that the free apps they let their kids play with can be used to authorize in-app purchases.

Thanks to this policy, some $70 million dollars’ worth of in-app purchases were made by minors between 2011 and 2016, and last year, a federal judge ruled that the company indeed had not done enough to warn parents.

Over the past two years, the hackers of the world have begun to shift focus. Previously, their preferred targets had been big credit card companies, and all over the dark web, interested parties could find as many credit card numbers (including all relevant account information) as they were interested in purchasing.

If you use either an Android or Apple smartphone, which describes approximately 100% of the world’s smartphone-using population, then you’ll want to pay close attention to the security updates that both Google and Apple released recently.

Four months ago, Google security researcher Gal Beniamini, a member of Project Zero, identified a string of critical security issues in Broadcom’s firmware.

Samsung, the world’s largest cellphone manufacturer, has a problem with their flagship offerings, the new S8 and S8+ devices. Both were released with a new facial recognition software the company used as an advanced security measure.

The idea was a thing of beauty in its simplicity.

If you have a laptop, you’ve probably noticed that your laptop’s battery doesn’t seem to last as long as the manufacturer says it will. Maybe you just figured you were a power user, or maybe you thought it was just your imagination. It isn’t.

A company called “Which?” that runs a popular website offering expert advice on numerous topics, including technology, recently completed a year-long survey into laptops made by a variety of manufacturers.

In 2016, security firms Lookout and Citizen Lab identified a dangerous new type of malware, dubbed Pegasus, that surfaced in the iOS ecosystem. The software was developed and sold by the NSO Group, a licensed cyber-arms dealer operating out of Israel.

WordPress remains the undisputed king of content management systems. It is the web’s most popular site-building platform, and odds are good that you either have a WordPress site or know someone who does. Legions of businesses use the open source CMS to build business-grade websites with a staggering degree of functionality.

The newest big problem with data security is the same as the old big problem with data security. It’s the users. Specifically, it’s the fact that most people don’t bother to change their passwords more than once a year, if that frequently.

Data security is a major headache for all business owners, no matter the size of your company.

Nintendo recently released the Nintendo Switch, a new console system. On its heels, we’re seeing a new scam that’s tricking large numbers of PC users (both Apple and Windows-based) into downloading potentially harmful software.

The scam seems to be driven largely by YouTube videos, and works like this:

A user views a YouTube video talking about free tools you can use to emulate Nintendo Switch functionality.

Google made a valiant effort to unify the world of internet chat with the release of Google Talk. Unfortunately, the other companies operating in that space were not interested in playing nice.

Had Google been successful in the realization of their vision, then virtually all chat software in use today would be cross-compatible.