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Microsoft's switch to the Blink rendering engine is perhaps a win-win for all Chromium-based browsers, as the company is spear-heading innovations coming to the open source browser engine.

Now, the company is working on a dual-screen emulator for the Chromium open-source browser, which feature was first spotted in a Chromium Gerrit commit, to be enabled by users through an experimental flag. The emulator feature follows the growing trends of foldable devices which are appearing more and more in the market.

While the first point-of-call for Microsoft Chromium Edge was the introduction of 'tracking prevention' for the browser, which serves same purpose as the cookie blockers on both Firefox and Safari browsers.

Chrome remains the only browser without the implementation of ad blockade, which reason is very much obvious, Google is the single biggest advertising company on the Web; but Microsoft wants to distance its browser from the creepiness that's associated with Chrome.

Devices to support the Dual-screen Emulator



The most intereting aspect of the dual-screen emulator feature is that it is meant for mobile devices only, and currently supports Galaxy Fold and Surface Duo which are expected to launch later this year.



Microsoft also released the Windows 10X emulator for the dual-screen Surface Neo, with listed changes that are included in the emulator.

It also supports the different settings for dual-screen devices in vertical or horizontal positions, and the new controls have been added to the browser UI from single-screen to dual-screen. Any device with a hinge in dual screen mode will be shown in the emulator as well.

How is the Emulator meant to be used?



The emulator is meant for web developers who need it to optimize their sites for dual-screen devices. However it can also be used by regular web users who wants a sneak peek into how a page will look like on a dual-screen device.

Eventually, the new feature will be made available to the Micrsoft Edge Chromium browser when the development is completed. And the Emulator from Microsoft’s Windows dev tool site will also be available for developers to design apps for dual-screen devices.

Microsoft prepping a dual-screen emulator for the open-source Chromium browser



As part of Facebook's ambitious program to bring free Internet to third-world countries, is the launch of a new secure proxy for browsing the Web for free called Discover.

While the erstwhile Free Basics service, available as a mobile web and Android app, allows users to browse the Internet using free daily data caps, similar to the new Facebook Discover currently being tested in Peru, that also rout all traffic through a proxy.

The main differentiator, however is that it treats all websites as the same, whereas Free Basics is limited to a handful of websites that meet some technical criteria set by Facebook.

Why A Web-Based Proxy?



Facebook Discover is a quite similar to its Free Basics program in that all traffic is routed through a proxy, but only the device interacts with the proxy servers, acting as a "client" to the requested website by users.



It runs in a whitelisted domain under same "freebasics.com" which the operator makes available for free (for instance, "https://example.com" is rewritten as "https://https-example-com.0.freebasics.com"), and fetches the webpage on behalf of the user and delivered to their device.

Additionally, the web cookies are stored encrypted on the server to prevent browsers from reaching a cookie limit. And the encryption key is stored on the client so that contents of the key can't be read without decoding by the user with the key.

How Secure is Facebook Discover?



Facebook Discover uses an authentication tag called "ickt" which is derived from the encryption key and a browser identifier cookie known as "datr", stored on the client.

And the tag is embedded in every proxy response, which is then compared against the 'ickt' on the client-side to check for signs of security tampering. If it mismatches, the cookies will be deleted. It makes use of a "two-frame solution" that embeds third-party site within an iframe secured by an outer frame, making use of the aforementioned tag to ensure the security of the content.

It thus prevent impersonation of the Discover domain by phishing sites, by blocking navigation attempts to such links through sandboxing the iframe, which prevents it from executing untrusted code.

Facebook testing New Secure Proxy for Browsing the Web for Free

UOS


Deepin Linux-based Unified Operating System (UOS) is a Chinese commercial version that's supposed to replace foreign OSes like Windows and macOs in the coming years.

As the most appealing Linux distro, Deepin brings the same awesome UI to UOS as with the Deepin desktop environment (DDE). According to Deepin Linux founder Liu Wenhuan, who also oversees the development of Deepin Linux-based Unified Operating System (UOS), it will take at least 3 to 10 years to truly match up with foreign operating systems.

And remarkably, Linux usage surged by a 1.5 percentage points to end at 2.9% in April, the highest since October 2017, with Windows accounting for 86.9% of global OS share, a decline of 2.3 percentage points.

How UOS intends to Replace Windows as preferred Chinese OS



Deepin Linux distribution is available for free, and UOS is an enterprise-focused distribution maintained by Union Tech, both of which are geared as Chinese native OS to replace Windows in the Chinese market.

UOS-Chinese-OS


While there is certainly no doubt about Linux dominance for enterprise servers and running supercomputers, but in the normal desktop vertical, Linux still needs more years to match up with Windows and macOS.

Notwithstanding, the NetApplications Linux usage report, it is a long way to go to actually beat the already dominant players. Albeit, the fact that desktop market of Microsoft’s Windows is still a mammoth 86.67% in China, and 9.94% for macOS, with only a meagre of 0.6% for Linux.

What Linux Desktop Market Share in China represents?



The mere 0.6% of Linux usage in China is further broken down to show that the data share is dominated by Ubuntu, with a large percentage of users at about 17.4% and even those still use Windows as their primary OS.

Though Windows' overall share did slid, but the individual editions like Windows 10, actually climbed in usage for April, ending at 64.5% share, which is a two-tenths percentage point.

Now, given that the latest data indicates an increase in Linux desktop market share by 1.5% and a decline in Windows shares by about 2% between March to April 2020. Does it then mean users of Windows 10 are switching to the open source alternative, Linux?

Deepin Linux-based Unified Operating System (UOS) aims for China dominance

firefox-protection



The Firefox-maker, Mozilla has been at the forefront on implementation of security measures that looks to secure web users, with Firefox 76 password manager, which is dubbed Lockwise, as a special area of emphasis for the browser-side security.

Firefox 76 comes with enhanced password protections which include warnings about sites that are reportedly victims of data breach, and also help to alert users if their passwords are known to have been leaked in breaches on such sites.

Again, Firefox is significantly faster than Google's browser or Microsoft's Edge in its updates, with the latest upgrade of the browser, Firefox 76 released on April 7 and next update expected on June 2, which is only four weeks interval.

Firefox Lockwise protection to keep your passwords safe



There’s a new feature in Firefox 76 password manager, Lockwise, that is meant to protect users saved passwords. If you try to view or copy a password from the “Logins and Passwords” page, you'll be prompted for your device’s account password, which once added, you will be able to view and copy for up to five minutes.

lockwise


The Lockwise dashboard, now powered by Firefox Monitor, makes it easier for you to check your passwords as often as you wish to keep your personal information safe, and to access your Lockwise dashboard, you simply need to click on the hamburger menu button located on the far right of your toolbar.

And this new feature automatically check your encrypted list of passwords against breached website information, to help you stay on top of your accounts security.

How to Download Firefox Lockwise to your iOS or Android devices



You can download Firefox Lockwise to your iOS or Android devices from their respective app stores to get access to your Firefox passwords on the go.

It also works by syncing your logins from the browser to the app, allowing you to take your login information securely with you. To get started, simply sign into your Firefox account on your PC, and then sign into Lockwise on your device to sync your logins.

Mozilla looks to stymie Data breach with Firefox Lockwise protection



A new botnet campaign with Chinese origins, dubbed "Kaiji" targeting Linux servers and IoT devices through SSH-brute forcing, was discovered by researchers at Intezer Labs.

While other such attackers get implants from popular sources like open source or blackmarket toolsets, this particular botnet employs a custom implant, from which its name Kaiji is derived based on one of the functions. Also, the botnet was built using the Golang programming language, which is very rare in the IoT botnet ecosystem.

Albeit, the security analysts believed that the botnet isn't advanced enough to exploit most devices, as Kaiji uses a brute force attack to target those IoT devices and Linux servers with their SSH ports exposed.

How Kaiji targets IoT devices with exposed SSH ports



The botnet, Kaiji spreads exclusively through SSH-brute force attacks targeting root users only, and access to root is important for its operation as such DDoS attacks are possible via crafting own network packets. While for Linux, such custom network packets are given to privileged users such as a root user.



If an SSH connection is established, it executes a bash script which sets up the environment for the malware, thus:
A /usr/bin/lib directory is created and then Kaiji is installed under the filename ‘netstat’, ‘ps’, ‘ls’, or some other system tool name.


Kaiji main features consists of multiple DDoS attacks like synack and ipspoof attacks, with an ssh bruteforcer module to maintain the spread, through an ssh spreader that relies on hijacking local SSH keys to infiltrate known hosts which the server connected in the past.

How to Protect your Linux and cloud servers



Malware threats targeting Linux are on the rise, with Kaiji as a new DDoS operation in its early stages.

Another major threat is the Mirai botnet that infected hundreds of thousands of IoT devices used to launch some of the largest DDoS attacks in history. It spreads in a worm-like manner through Telnet connections by taking advantage of default administrative details on smart devices, which unfortunately, most users don't change.

Therefore, it is recommended that Linux users should make sure that their servers are patched as at when due, and the server software are up-to-date, and more importantly, ensure that they change the default administrative password.

New IoT Botnet targets Linux Servers via SSH-Brute force attacks



Microsoft Windows witnessed a slide in share for all operating systems in April, which is the first month of the global lockdown following the surge in coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

While Linux (made up of all distributions) surged by a remarkable 1.5 points to end at 2.9% in April, the highest since October 2017, and Windows accounted for 86.9% of global OS share, a decline of 2.3 percentage points.

As the largest loss by Microsoft Windows since 2017, which according to Net Applications, after major adjustments to its share numbers after purging it of bogus traffic from bots.

How individual Windows editions, such as Windows 10, fared?



Windows overall witnessed a ripple effect, which caused individual editions, such as Windows 10, to have similar losses. But if measured as portion of all Windows, the decline by Windows 10, were much less significant.

And given the so-called zero-sum game, as operating system share is often perceived, if an OS goes down, another must have gone up, so April's share saw major advances by rival operating systems, such as Apple's macOS climbing by eight-tenths of a percentage point to end at 9.8%, its highest mark since 2019.

And the biggest surprise, Linux, including all distributions hit a remarkable 1.5 points to end at 2.9%, the highest mark since 2017 and perhaps, just before the Net Applications data purge.

How the different Linux distros fared?



Ubuntu, the most popular Linux distro, was pegged at a whopping 1.9% or 66% of the Linux overall share, which is a gigantic increase from the three-tenths of a percentage point the previous month.

The fact that there were suddenly more machines running the Canonical distro in April is a bit of puzzle, though people are more likely using personal Macs while working from home, as corporate-owned Windows machine remained at the office, but the big uptick in Linux is still a puzzle.

Albeit, Windows' overall share did slid, but the impact on individual editions was pretty minor. And for Windows 10, it actually climbed in April, ending at 64.5% share, which is two-tenths of a percentage point.

OS Wars 2020: Linux surges, while Windows' share took a tumble

elementary-os

elementary OS is a Linux distro that's mainly targeted at non-technical users, and serves as open and privacy-focused replacement for macOS and Windows, with a so-called pay-what-you-want model.

While the current elementary OS 5.1 "Hera" has recently received some new changes in the latest point version v5.1.4 release, which includes a revamped app menu, renaming of the parental control app, and several performance improvements.

The upcoming elementary OS 6 "Odin" will make debut with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, and some of the new enhancements expected in the new OS version are as follows. 

Upcoming Features & Release date for elementary OS 6



The upcoming elementary OS 6 with the UI development phase update, according to Cassidy James Blaede, Co-founder & CXO, will make debut with an Ubuntu 20.04 base.

While Ubuntu 20.04 LTS was released on April 23, 2020 and the most notable features is support for Linux kernel 5.4 which provides the latest kernel capabilities, such as lockdown mode and exFAT support.

Other expected features include:

  • Improved Flatpak package management
  • Support for Wayland display server protocol
  • New libraries for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (focal fossa)
  • New Setting to change the terminal and code color scheme
  • Improved gesture support for one-to-one touch


Additionally, the elementary OS team has renamed the Parental Controls app to “Screen Time & Limits” which is perhaps a more straightforward name, and now, you can use it on non-admin accounts.

Though, the official release date for elementary OS 6 is yet to be announced, it is a possible estimation that elementary OS 6 Odin may hit the market in November 2020.

If you’re new to elementary OS and need a fresh installation, you can download the latest ISO image from the official site.

elementary OS 6 Odin: Upcoming Features and Release date



The ubiquitous to-do list app, Wunderlist since its creation in 2011, has helped millions of people in organizing their ideas for perfect execution. But as the May 6 shutdown of Wunderlist is almost upon us, this is perhaps the best time to move to an alternative service.

While Microsoft had acquired Wunderlist about five years ago, and later debuted its own to-do list app called Microsoft To Do, which incorporates several of the features in Wunderlist. Now, Wunderlist users will no longer be able to use the list-making app, and Microsoft's To Do list app will replace it in May 2020.

If you're looking for alternatives to Wunderlist, here are three (3) to-do list app alternatives that allow you to import your data from Wunderlist directly.

3 Best Free Alternative To-Do list Applications



If you’re a user of Wunderlist, it is recommended that you shouldn’t wait until the last minute to get a replacement app; so you can choose from the below list.

1. Microsoft To Do





Microsoft To Do is the successor to Wunderlist, built by Microsoft itself based on Wunderlist's features. The To Do app got a redesign that makes it look a bit more like Wunderlist last year, with some major cosmetic changes, like a dark mode option and background color options.

Also, it features other capabilities including steps (subtasks), listing groups (folders), and file attachments, and sharing and task assignments, coupled with the ability to sync across Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows.

Microsoft To Do is available for Android and iOS as a free download and also as a web app. It requires that you sign in with your Microsoft account, but if you don't have a Microsoft account, you can also create an account with your preferred email service, including Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo mail.

2. Google Keep





Google Keep is pre-installed on almost all modern Android device, and so, it’s perfect for those who need to make the simplest of do-to lists on the go.

And it is completely free, albeit, its list-making feature is quite limited, which it makes up for with non-bloated and clean UI. Another disadvantage is that you can't import directly from Wunderlist into Google Keep.

It is most ideal for people who have just reevaluated their list-making needs or perhaps, have only recently gotten on board into the to-do lifestyle; you may have to take a look at Google Keep.

3. Todoist





The productivity app, Todoist is helpful in managing tasks, projects and your daily goals. It is able to syncs across Windows, Mac, Android, iOS and via web and browser extensions, coupled with direct apps like Google Calendar and Dropbox integrations.

Also, you can use Todoist to delegate tasks and set goals, with daily or weekly productivity trends.

Todoist is free to download on iOS and Android, or as a web app, and you can import data from your Wunderlist lists, using Todoist's import tool. But, you'll have to authorize the data transfer, which can then move all of your projects, tasks, and files to the Todoist app.

Wunderlist Alternatives: 3 Best Free To-Do list Applications for 2020



Linux Mint 20 "Ulyana" is built on top of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, which the Mint team has unveiled some updates about the upcoming features and the final release date.

According to the Mint team, some of the features which were introduced in Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE 4) have been added to Linux Mint 20, such as the activation of APT by default and live resolution bump in Virtualbox.

And Linux Mint 20 will be available in three editions, namely: Cinnamon, MATE and Xfce, but only supports 64-bit architecture and runs on Linux 5.4 kernel.

Upcoming Features and Release Date for Linux Mint 20 Ulyana



Linux Mint 20 “Ulyana” release is planned for June, 2020 and includes already released features in Debian GNU/Linux-based LMDE 4, such as support for live session in Virtualbox with 1024 x 768 screen resolution.

The most notable feature is perhaps the improvement in Nemo performance, which is the ability to change the monitor refresh-rate and support for fractional HiDPI resolutions.

On the desktop, it introduced a new file sharing tool, dubbed "Warpinator" to make it easy to send and receive files across the local network. The Warpinator encrypts communication on the network and it has got a new icon, with the only thing missing now is translations.

And the systray applet will delegate support for indicators (libAppIndicator) and StatusNotifier (Qt and new Electron apps) icons, directly to the Xapp StatusIcon applet. Additionally, for the default Mint-Y theme, Linux Mint 20 introduced two new colors of Pink and Aqua, which further enhances the theme experience.

Getting Started with Linux Mint



If you want to give Linux Mint a try, there are packages for Mint 19.3 and LMDE 4 made available here. In LMDE 4, all you need is download the package and install it, Gdebi would ask you to install its dependencies, which are available in the LMDE 4 repositories.

In Linux Mint 19.3, the repositories don’t have the required dependencies, so you'll need to use the “Software Sources” tool to add the PPA below:

ppa:clementlefebvre/grpc


Now, refresh your APT cache and you’ll be able to install Warpinator using this package. Apturl uses the aptdaemon backend instead of Synaptic and Gdebi will add a newly revamped user interface, as the Mint-Y theme will provide much brighter colors than before.

Linux Mint 20 Ulyana: Upcoming Features and Release Date



Parrot OS is a GNU/Linux distribution based on Debian developed by Parrot Security with a focus on security and ethical hacking development.

The latest release, Parrot 4.9, follows after the previous version, Parrot 4.8 which brought some minor bugs that required some extra time to be spotted and fixed. Though it appears to be a minor release for the fixing of bugs, it also brings some notable enhancements on several components.

And as this version ships with latest updates from upstream sources (mostly Debian), so too, every new fixes, and improvements are now included in Parrot 4.9 as well.

What’s new in Parrot 4.9?



Due to the huge amount of updates from Debian, like removal of several python2 libraries and tools, and introduction of new Linux kernel version, made Parrot 4.9 release more appealing.

It also introduces new, and more friendly installer, coupled with a new look and feel to the login screen, to make the system more attractive to newcomers and more user-friendly for those already used to the system. Other enhancements and changes include:

  • Support for dnstool
  • Support for bash-completion of commands
  • Fix airgeddon execution path
  • Remove duplicate launchers from Debian packages or in other categories
  • Fix icon missing in brisk menu
  • Fix icons for some security tools
  • Anonsurf Improvements


Additionally, the jump from Linux kernel 5.4 to 5.5, has introduced a more reliable hardware support, with fixes for several WiFi and Intel GPU bugs and introduces support to newer hardware that wasn’t previously supported.

How to Get Started with Parrot 4.9



You can download Parrot 4.9 from the official website, as it is recommended to never trust third-party and unofficial sources. Therefore, to upgrade any existing system via APT use one of the following commands:

sudo parrot-upgrade

or

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade


As Parrot OS is a rolling release distro, the updates flow in the repo as soon as they prove to be stable, with version numbers such as 4.8 or 4.9, assigned to the current state of the project once there are enough updates accumulated in the repo to need a refresh of the ISO file.

Parrot Security releases Parrot 4.9 with Bug fixes and notable Enhancements

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