 The last time Microsoft provided us with any information regarding the number of Windows 10 devices was back in March, when it surpassed the 800 million mark. During the Build developer event, however, Paul Thurrott from Thurrott.com got access to documentation with more recent information in that regard. According to those documents, Windows 10 is now active on 825 million devices, a notable increase over the 800 million announced two months ago. Usage numbers were also revealed for some of Microsoft's apps. The Edge browser for Android and iOS has been downloaded a total of 4.5 million times, and Microsoft Launcher has over four million users. Meanwhile, SwiftKey, which was already fairly popular prior to its acquisition by Microsoft, has a total of 159 million active users. Additionally, Thurrot learned a bit more about the structure of Microsoft's organization, specifically around Windows, which has been without a known leader since Terry Myerson stepped down last year. Microsoft has made Eran Megiddo Corporate Vice President for Windows and Education, but he will report to Joe Belfiore, so the position isn't exactly the same as the one held by Myerson. Under the leadership of Megiddo, the Windows team has set three goals - to create clarity around Microsoft’s strategy for the OS, better manage cross-devices experiences between Windows and mobile, and continue pushing Windows in the education market. Google's Chrome OS is gaining popularity in that segment, so it makes sense that Microsoft wants to put up a fight. Since its launch, Windows 10 hasn't quite grown at the pace Microsoft originally hoped it would, as the company originally targeted one billion users in the three years following the initial release. However, growth has been steady, and Microsoft is inching closer to that number, and the new leadership could be a good step in that direction.  Scammers running business email compromise (BEC) fraud have grown in number, attack more often, and turn to remote access trojans as the preferred malware type to accompany their raids. Although the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) developed a Recovery Asset Team has made a difference in reducing losses caused by BEC scams, now there are more fraudsters than ever. Since its establishment in early 2018, IC3's asset recovery team has recorded a success rate of 75% for the incidents it investigated, retrieving over $192 million in funds misdirected in BEC scams. BEC is a global threat, but there is one place where making money through this type of fraud is the norm. This type of activity is rife in Nigeria, home of the infamous 419 email scam (the prince is still looking for someone to help move his wealth out of the country). Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 has been monitoring the Nigerian cybercrime since 2014 and documented its evolution into using malware for reaching the financial goal. In 2017 there were around 300 unique actors or groups engaged in BEC fraud, and the next year the number grew to over 400. The researchers track them under the code name SilverTerrier. With swelling their numbers, activity from SilverTerrier also surged last year, by 54% compared to 2017. This translates into a monthly average of 28,227 attacks Unit 42 saw aimed at its customers. High-tech was the most targeted industry, with over 120,000 attacks recorded last year, up from 46,000. Moving behind at a rapid speed is the wholesale sector, which faced four times more attacks, around 80,000. Further details posted on OUR FORUM.  Today Nvidia released GeForce Game Ready WHQL 430.64 drivers for Windows 10, 8, 8.1 and 7 with a slew of bug fixes. Nvidia 430.64 driver update includes security fixes and as well as Game Ready status for a couple of new games. Nvidia 430.64 also comes with a fix for a bug that caused higher CPU usage by NVDisplay.Container.exe. About a week ago, Nvidia fixed this critical bug with the 430.53 hotfix update and the company has also included the fix in the latest update. The fix for higher CPU usage isn’t the only change as Nvidia has packed a few more improvements into this driver. As mentioned, GeForce Game Ready WHQL 430.64 drivers also add Game Ready status to three new titles – World War Z, Total War: Three Kingdoms and RAGE 2. There are several bug fixes included in this driver update. For example, Nvidia has fixed an issue where users experienced flickering when the benchmark is launched. Another bug where the application crashes when the game is launched has been fixed. The update includes a fix for Shadow of the Tomb Raider where the game freezes when launched in SLI mode. Crashing issues with Hitman 2 in DirectX 12 has been also addressed. Nvidia is also fixing the desktop flickers when videos are played on the secondary monitor. Nvidia is aware of a couple of problems with the driver on Windows 10 machines. In the changelog, Nvidia says that when 3D Settings page > Vertical Sync setting is set to Adaptive Sync, V-Sync works only at the native refresh rate after rebooting the system. Learn more and download from OUR FORUM. |
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