Daily Tech News 30 June 2021

• Microsoft apologised for the confusion caused by its botched Windows 11 announcement and then immediately made things worse. (ZDNet)
  
  They have repeatedly added and then deleted details from their compatibility documents.
  
  And the - largely useless - compatibility checker app they provided has now been removed entirely.
  
  The article estimates that 40% of PCs sold as recently as 2019 can't run Windows 11, as best as anyone can work out with the horribly confused state of the requirements. And more than 60% of all PCs currently in use can't be upgraded.
  
  This has been a textbook case of how not to announce a new product.

• The new HP Pavilion Aero looks pretty good. (Thurrott.com)
  
  Ryzen 5000U CPUs, with up to 8 Zen 3 cores, a 13.3" 16:10 display with a resolution of 2303x1440 - a bit weird, but that's 1920x1200 with a 20% bonus, at 400 nits and covering 100% of Adobe RGB; charging over USB-C or a dedicated charge port, two full-size USB-A, HDMI, headphone jack, and a microSD slot.
  
  And the Four Essential Keys in their proper place.
  
  All in a 2.1 pound package, and available in white, silver, and regular or rose gold. Starting at $749 and available next month.
  
  Might even run Windows 11.
  
  
  
• Yes, those Western Digital My Book Live owners got hacked. (Bleeping Computer)
  
  The hack involved calling the factory reset function on devices connected to the internet.
  
  That's it.
  
  You didn't need to do anything clever because the factory reset function wasn't protected in any way whatsoever.
  
  I mean, they had password protection in the code, they just, um, commented it out.
  
  
  
• Russia had access to the network of Denmark's central bank for months. (Bleeping Computer)
  
  This is obviously government action. Hacking a bank, sure, criminals might try that. Hacking a central bank is pointless unless you're a rival nation.
  
  And this was part of the broader SolarWinds hack, meaning that was almost certainly the Russian government as well.
  
  
  
• The breach that wasn't: There are stolen details of 700 million LinkedIn users for sale on the dark web. (9to5Mac)
  
  All of which was posted publicly, because that's what LinkedIn is for. If you don't want your private information out there, the first step is to not post it publicly yourself.

posted by Pixy Misa at 04:08 AM

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