downloads

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) says 25Mbps is no longer fast enough to count as "broadband." It's proposed increasing the standard to 100Mbps for downloads. The figures matter because the "broadband speed standard" is the measure the ... FCC uses to assess whether broadband is becoming available "on a reasonable and timely basis" to the entire US population. If it isn't, the FCC has the authority - and legal responsibility - to take action to correct the shortfall. This could include changing rules to promote competition or make it easier for companies to invest in new infrastructure ... (view more)

Some Google Play Store apps with more than a million downloads have turned out to house malware. It's a reminder that however good Google's security vetting process is, it's not perfectly reliable. Two security companies, ThreatLabZ and Evina, say ... they found a total of 60 apps that are or have been in the Play Store and house one of four "families" of malware. One type appears to be new and has been dubbed Autolycos by researcher Maxime Ingrao. Promoted via Facebook and Instagram ads, the apps use a common technique. They are listed as carrying out a specific feature, which they ... (view more)

A new piece of malware can intercept Internet traffic to spot people downloading legitimate installation files and replace them with "infected" copies. Security company Kaspersky went as far as calling it "impressive" from a technical, if not moral ... standpoint. Kaspersky has dubbed the malware "Reductor," after a term that appears in some of the code. It discovered the malware in April, 2019, so the fact it's only just going public suggests it took some serious analysis. (Source: securelist.com ) The malware's operation is exceedingly complicated, but one a machine is infected with ... (view more)

Infopackets Read Sammy K. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just upgraded to Windows 10 and I have been using the Edge browser for a few weeks. One thing I don't understand, however, is how to change the default download location in Edge? I do a fair bit of ... downloading online, but Edge only wants to download to my 'Download' folder which is located in c:\users\my user name. With Internet Explorer or any other browser, I could choose my download location. Can you help? " My response: Microsoft Edge is a much more basic browser in comparison to Internet Explorer (or any other browser, for that matter), ... (view more)

Google has added a new measure to protect users from visiting risky websites. It's now going to warn users about bogus downloads, even before they go to the website concerned. The changes will affect Google Search, users of the Chrome browser, and ... advertisements provided by Google to third-party websites. Safe Browsing Warnings Extended to Chrome Google's Chrome browser will now contain special warning messages built into the web browser. The warnings are part of Google's Safe Browsing Service , which is also available as a third party API (application program interface). Parts of the ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'wb7wvo' writes: " Dear Dennis, How do I find a program I just downloaded? I tried the Windows Search feature, but it doesn't seem to be able to find it. I recently downloaded a ham radio program to my desktop, but it never showed ... up. I downloaded it again, but the same thing happened. I can't seem to find my downloads ever since I upgraded to the latest release of Firefox. I feel like I goofed up somehow, but for the life of me I can't find the program I just downloaded. Any suggestions? " My response: If the file downloaded successfully, it should be in your Download ... (view more)

It appears as if one of the largest cable and home Internet service providers in the United States is planning to reinstate monthly bandwidth limits on its many customers. The news is raising new and old questions about net neutrality , Internet ... fairness, and bandwidth usage caps in general. Recently, Comcast executive vice president David Cohen told a New York audience that his company plans to reinstate monthly bandwidth caps sometime in the next five years. Bandwidth Cap System More Fair, Says Exec Bandwidth is loosely defined as is a measurement of available or consumed data communication ... (view more)