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Wednesday Newsbytes: Another Ransomware Scare, New Firefox Lets You Edit PDFs, Tabbed File Explorer Comes to Windows 11,\u00a0 More Deaths in Self-driving Cars, Solar Storms May Crash the Internet<\/span><\/strong>.. and more!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Every day we scan the tech world for interesting news in the world of technology and sometimes from outside the world of technology. Every Wednesday, we feature some news articles that grabbed our attention over the past week. We hope you find this week’s\u00a0 ‘Wednesday Newsbytes’ informative and interesting!<\/span><\/p>\n This unusual ransomware attack targets home PCs, so beware<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n A ransomware campaign is using sneaky techniques to infect individual users with ransomware – and demands thousands for the decryption key.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n A ransomware attack delivered by fake Windows 10 and antivirus software updates is targeting home users, using sneaky techniques to stay undetected before encrypting files and demanding a ransom payment of thousands of dollars.<\/span><\/p>\n The Magniber campaign, detailed by HP Wolf Security, is unusual for 2022 in the way it focuses on generating relatively small ransom payments from individual users, compared to what could be extorted by going after businesses and demanding large ransoms.<\/span><\/p>\n In many ways, it’s a throwback to early ransomware campaigns that encrypted files on individual computers. However, Magniber is using innovative techniques that make it much more difficult to detect \u2013 especially for home users.<\/span><\/p>\n The attack chain begins when the user visits a website controlled by the attackers, designed to look like legitimate websites and services that victims are tricked into visiting in one of a number of ways…<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Read more at ZDNet.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Firefox 106 will let you type directly into browser PDFs<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Sorry Adobe but we can let users type or even hand-write directly<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Mozilla has released the latest version of the leading FOSS browser for Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD and mobile OSes.<\/span><\/p>\n Firefox version 106 isn’t a big release, but it includes some welcome new features nonetheless, with notable improvements in PDF handling and cross-device sync.<\/span><\/p>\n The built-in Javascript-based PDF viewer has been updated, so there’s less need to rely on a local PDF viewer having these functions. Firefox has been able to display PDFs for many years, and since version 93 late last year, you can complete forms directly in the browser as well \u2013 in both AcroForms and the deprecated XFA format. That nicely obsoletes Adobe’s scary warning about the older format.<\/span><\/p>\n Now the viewer can also annotate PDF documents, which means they can type, or hand-write, directly onto a PDF in a choice of colors, size, line thickness, opacity, and so on, then save the PDF file locally, complete with the new additions. A side-effect is that it can display comments in PDF files, something which third-party PDF viewers often struggle with…<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Read more at The Register.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Microsoft finally releases tabbed File Explorer for Windows 11<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Microsoft has released the long-awaited Windows 11 tabbed File Explorer, Suggested Actions, Taskbar Overflow features, and Task Manager quick-access features in a new preview cumulative update.<\/span><\/p>\n Last month, Microsoft released Windows 11 22H2 with various new features. However, the eagerly anticipated Tabbed File Explorer was not released, with Microsoft saying they would enable it in October.<\/span><\/p>\n Today, Microsoft has released the Windows 11 KB5019509 preview cumulative update to enable new features that were not ready when 22H2 was released.<\/span><\/p>\n Microsoft says that they will start to roll out the new features to those who installed today’s preview update but that it may take some time before it’s enabled on all Windows 11 devices.<\/span><\/p>\n “These new features and experiences will start to become available today in an optional non-security preview release and a phased rollout via our servicing technology and new apps via Microsoft Store updates, ensuring you can take advantage of the latest Windows experiences as these new features are ready,” explains a Microsoft announcement on the new features.<\/span><\/p>\n Once the cumulative update is installed, Windows 11 users will slowly have the new features enabled…<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Read more at<\/span> Bleeping Computer<\/span><\/strong>.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n 11 more crash deaths are linked to automated-tech vehicles<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n DETROIT (AP) \u2014 Eleven people were killed in U.S. crashes involving vehicles that were using automated driving systems during a four-month period earlier this year, according to newly released government data, part of an alarming pattern of incidents linked to the technology.<\/span><\/p>\n Ten of the deaths involved vehicles made by Tesla, though it is unclear from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration\u2019s data whether the technology itself was at fault or whether driver error might have been responsible.<\/span><\/p>\n The 11th death involved a Ford pickup. The automaker said it has to report fatal crashes to the government quickly, but it later determined that the truck was not equipped with its partially automated driving system.<\/span><\/p>\n The deaths included four crashes involving motorcycles that occurred during the spring and summer: two in Florida and one each in California and Utah. Safety advocates note that the deaths of motorcyclists in crashes involving Tesla vehicles using automated driver-assist systems such as Autopilot have been increasing.<\/span><\/p>\n The new fatal crashes are documented in a database that NHTSA is building in an effort to broadly assess the safety of automated driving systems, which, led by Tesla, have been growing in use…<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Read more at AP News<\/a>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Wrath of solar storm: Can it take down the Internet on Earth? Here is the shocking TRUTH<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n This week, the Earth has experienced a rare break from the continuous solar storm onslaught. But many believe that this is just the quiet before the big solar storm strikes. In the last 10 months, geomagnetic events coming from the Sun have caused multiple major outages on Earth. Notably, just a few weeks ago, a solar storm delayed the rescue operations taking place in the USA after the destruction of hurricane Ian by obstructing the radio channels which were being used for communications. But that is a small problem compared to what a solar storm can potentially do. A big fear has been whether a solar storm can wipe out the internet on Earth. A scientist has finally revealed the truth.<\/span><\/p>\n Can a solar storm destroy internet connectivity on Earth?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n It is important to first understand how internet services actually work. Radio waves are satellite dependent and send and receive signals from the upper atmosphere of Earth and that is why they are more susceptible to electromagnetic interference coming from the solar storms. But unlike them, internet connections are not governed by satellites alone. Elon Musk-led Starlink is a satellite-based internet service but it is among the minority. The majority of global internet access is via the ultra-long fiber optic cables that stretch on the ocean floor and link continents. These cables are resistant to any outside magnetic fluctuations and the current inside them cannot be affected…<\/span><\/p>\n However, every 50-150 kilometers apart, these cables are equipped with a device called a repeater. Repeaters boost the signals by repeating the incoming waves so that the connection does not get weak. These repeaters are vulnerable to the solar storms and they can take them out. If even one repeater is taken out, the entire global network will suffer immediate outage…<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Read more at HT Tech.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Glowing Trees Could Soon Light Our Cities<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Engineers at MIT have successfully created bioluminescent trees. Experts injected specialized nanoparticles into the leaves of a watercress plant, which caused it to give off a dim light for nearly four hours. The discovery could offer an organic alternative to streetlights, lighting the way for pedestrians and drivers while providing a fantastical and scenic environment.<\/span><\/p>\n To create their glowing plants, engineers turned to an enzyme called luciferase. Luciferase acts on a molecule called luciferin, causing it to emit light.<\/span><\/p>\n Another molecule called Co-enzyme A helps the process along by removing a reaction byproduct that can inhibit luciferase activity. The MIT team packaged each of these components into a different type of nanoparticle carrier…<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The above is from Innovation & Tech Today<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Thanks for reading this week’s Wednesday Newbytes. We hope you found these articles informative, interesting, fun, and\/or helpful. Darcy & TC<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wednesday Newsbytes: Another Ransomware Scare, New Firefox Lets You Edit PDFs, Tabbed File Explorer Comes to Windows 11,\u00a0 More Deaths in Self-driving Cars, Solar Storms May Crash the Internet.. and more! Every day we scan the tech world for interesting news in the world of technology and sometimes from outside the world of technology. Every Wednesday,\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2659,1678,2509,1,1426,1682,1656,1674,4372,4353,4221],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24378"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24378"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24379,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24378\/revisions\/24379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thundercloud.net\/infoave\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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