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Microsoft Initiates the Password-less Authentication Using FIDO2 Security Keys

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How many times it has happened that you forgot your account password while logging into it, and you have to recreate a new one. Well, the problem is going to vanish for the Microsoft accounts soon, as it is going to introduce the standards-based FIDO2 security key devices to let its users sign into their account without a username and password. Using the FIDO2 WebAuthn and the CTAP2 standards, Microsoft will enable the hardware security keys or Windows Hello support, to authenticate the users, through its Edge browser.

Fido-Security-Key-USB
Image Source: itsagadget.com

The users who are using Windows 10 can start using the new authentication technique, either by using Windows Hello, a biometrics-based authentication platform built into Windows 10, with a FIDO2-compatible device from Yubico or Feitian, an authenticator or with a fingerprint reader.

Vice president of program management at Microsoft Identity Division, Alex Simons, said, “Microsoft is the first company to support password-less authentication using the FIDO2 WebAuthn and CTAP2 specifications, and Microsoft Edge supports the widest array of authenticators compared to other major browsers.”

To use a hardware authentication key, one needs to plug it into the USB port of the system. For logging into a Microsoft account over a phone, one need to use the Bluetooth or NFC wireless communications. The users can also login into the Microsoft apps, on a smartphone, using the Microsoft Authenticator app. The Microsoft platforms that support the FIDO2 security key includes Outlook.com, Office 365, Skype, OneDrive, Cortana, Microsoft Edge, Xbox Live on the PC, Mixer, the Microsoft Store, Bing and the MSN portal site.

Microsoft had already introduced its Authenticator app, for the iOS and Android users and as of now, Microsoft is the only company to provide such security devices to its users. Soon, we can see other companies adopting the same technology as the regular username and passwords have already been vulnerable to the security breaches. It may be a drastic change in the authentication procedure, but adopting the new one can be more beneficial for the security of the important data stored on the web.

Berners-Lee Wants A New Contract to Fix the Broken Internet

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The 63 years old founder of the World Wide Web (www), Tim Berners-Lee, has shown concerns about the manner the internet is being used, for the past ten years. According to Berners-Lee, the internet was created for the people, for quick exchange of information across the world. But, the goal that its founders had, have been got off the course.

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He said, “For a long time, 20 years, I thought all I had to do was just keep it free and open, and people will do wonderful things. Then in fact, if you look and talk to people on the street now, there’s been a big change. I think this has been a tipping point.”

Berners-Lee is bothered about the situations that the internet is facing these days. The threats like data breaches, hate speech, fake news, tech monopolies, and other things have deviated the internet from its initial goal. Berners-Lee, on Monday, called for a contract for the web, that includes guidelines for corporations, governments, and citizens, to make it safe and accessible for everyone. He said that the in 1989, when the internet came into being, it was assumed as the biggest breakthrough, as it connected the technology and humanity. But, it has caused a digital divide between the richer and the poorer countries. Also, half of the world’s population, including billions of women and girls, are still to get access to it.

“The web is for everybody, and so if the web is for everyone the contract has got to be for everyone,” said Berners-Berners-Lee, at Europe’s largest technology conference.

The biggest issue with today’s internet is that the negative content on the web is getting more attention and there is a flood of fake news and hate speeches. Also, the most used apps like Instagram and Youtube are the products of tech giants like Facebook and Google, leading to a monopoly.

The contract will be released by May 2019, at the same time 50 per cent of the world will be online for the first time. More than 50 organisations have already signed the contract, which is published by the World Wide Web Foundation. The contract includes the mention of the requirement for all the governments to treat privacy as a fundamental human right and has published a report that calls for urgent action.

Intel’s 9th Gen Core i9 9900K; The Fastest Gaming Processor Ever

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Intel
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Intel, the 800-pound gorilla of the processor world, is back with a substantially higher clock speedCore X microprocessors lineup, including the $263 Core i5-9600K, the $385 Core i7-9700K and the $499 Core i9-9900K. The new processor chip is high at performance, providing new levels for the power users and the gamers. The chips are considerably powerful than the AMD’s Ryzen 7 2700X, and the Core i9-9900K is the fastest of them all.

The Coffee Lake architecture based processor has the Base Frequency (GHz) of 3.6, and the Boost Frequency (Active Cores – GHz) of 1-2 Cores – 5.0, 4 Cores – 4.8, and 8 Cores – 4.7. It is using the Solder Thermal Interface Material (STIM), to facilitate the better thermal transfer, on the Core i9 and i7 models without disrupting a 95W cover at base clock rates. The processor has the eight Hyper-Threaded cores (8C/16T) and comes with better frame rates.

The Core i9-9900K has been manufactured on the Intel’s 14nm++ node and supports the dual-channel DDR4-2666 memory. The chip is integrated with the UHD 630 graphics engine and provides with the facility to double the memory capacity support to increase the RAM density up to 128 GB. It consists of the Dual-Channel Memory Controller and x16 PCIe Lanes. The processor is accompanied by two additional 2MB slices of L3 cache.

The processor is considered to be providing the best performance than its contemporaries, especially to play games on the 4K or HDR. But, the extra frames offered with it are not making much of the difference comparing to the 8th Gen processor, and are not worth spending this much money. The chip has introduced various features against its competitor AMD, but still the processor is at a higher price.

Walmart to Replace Apple as No. 3 Online Retailer in the U.S. by the End of 2018

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According to a report released on Friday, Walmart has overtaken Apple as America’s third-largest online retailer. Last year, Apple was at the third position, after Amazon and eBay in the list of the top retailers of the U.S. with 3.8% share in the total online sale (2017). Due to a decrease in the sales of Apple’s smartphones and electronic devices this year, Walmart was successful in surpassing Apple and taking over its position on the list.

walmart
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The eMarketers had estimated a boost in the sales of Walmart that it will have approximately 3.7% of the share in the online sales in the U.S., but as the Walmart’s online business is growing quickly, its share in the total online sales of the U.S., raised to 4 per cent. Apple managed to get only a per cent rise in its online sales from the previous year, i.e., 3.9 per cent. It is expected that the growth in the sales of Walmart would grow by 39.4 per cent, just behind the sales growth of Wayfair, that is expected to be 40.1 per cent, by the end of 2018.

The latest prediction by the eMarketers shows that by the end of the year Walmart will capture $20.91 billion online retail spending this year. Walmart, itself, had also reported its third-quarter profits with revenue of $124.9 billion, 1.4 per cent up from a year ago. The company has seen a rapid growth in its sales due to its efforts through every means.

Wallmart has adopted the right technology to ensure a better customer experience, providing them with an omnichannel platform to use all its services. The app provided by Wallmart helps in easy shopping as well as let them track their orders and locate the items in the store using digital maps. In the holiday season, it has also got rid of the $35 fees for its two-day delivery and has offered no-delivery charges for other delivery options. After Wallmart, the two-day delivery service has also been adopted by Amazon for its festive-season sales.

Walmart U.S. CEO Greg Foran said, “We can provide a much better customer experience because we are in stock of the right item, at the right time at the same time it is going to help us be much more precise.”

The tech giant, along with its online retail business, is also planning to raise outlook of its physical stores to increase up to 3 per cent share in its sales for the fiscal year 2019, targeting the same years earning up to $4.65 to $4.80 a share.

Bitcoin is Plunging after Months of Stability; Drops the Whole Crypto Market

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Bitcoin had just recovered from its price drop last month, and it again has faced a plunge in its value by more than 10%, on Wednesday. The currency valued the lowest, since October 2017, now trading around $5500. In the past one year, the value of Bitcoin was fluctuating around $6600.

Bitcoin
Image Source: oracletimes.com

Bitcoin’s price plummetted to $5,534 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange, but soon, regained to a somewhat higher value. But still, it has not reacquired any of the previous values, lowering down the values of other cryptocurrencies, as well, including Ethereum’s Ether down to almost 13%, Bitcoin Cash down to 8.7%, and XRP (Ripple) to 9.2%. Since last year’s October month, the market cap for Bitcoin has first time fallen below $100 billion, and the total market capitalization for the same now stands at $96 billion. The total market capitalization for the cryptocurrency combined now stands at $181 billion.

Charlie Hayter, the founder of crypto data website Cryptocompare, said, “The market had been entering a wedge, with the volatility so low. What you are seeing low is a breakout on the downside. Sometimes when things happen, it takes a while for the true reason to become clear – an exchange trade or regulatory action.”

Bitcoin has provided some multimillion deals to people making them rich, but, most of the crypto experts are aware of the volatility of Bitcoin. The so-called “hard fork” scheduled for yesterday, in bitcoin cash, is being considered as the reason behind the huge plunge in the price of the Bitcoin. A hard fork includes the splitting up of one cryptocurrency into two, and it is acknowledged as the upgrade of the cryptocurrency by the crypto experts.

The crypto market has been calm for the past few years, but 2018 has been an unfavourable year for the cryptocurrency. The Bitcoin Cash, itself, is the resultant of the first Bitcoin hard fork, and this time the hard fork will leave the investors with two digital currencies that will go by the names Bitcoin ABC (core Bitcoin Cash) and Bitcoin SV. Some experts contemplated that investors may leave Bitcoin to raise funds to buy Bitcoin Cash after it splits in hope that both of the new coins will experience.

India Successfully Launches GSLV-Mk III; Green Signal to Chandrayaan-2 & Manned Mission

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On Wednesday, the launch of India’s heaviest rocket, the GSLV-Mk III, carrying 3,423 kg communication satellite GSAT-29, from the ISRO’s Sriharikota centre (Satish Dhawan Space Centre), in Andhra Pradesh. The launch took place at 5.08 pm, carrying the GSAT-29 satellite, that has been set into the Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). With the help of the thrusters, the satellite will be placed in Earth’s Geostationary Orbit (GEO). The rocket has proven its ability by putting the satellite into the GTO just within sixteen minutes.

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Image Source: freepressjournal.in

The ISRO chairman K Sivan said, “Today India has achieved a significant milestone. The GSLV Mk III, India’s heaviest launcher, has launched GSAT 29. The launch completed the developmental flights of the rocket.”

The launch of GSLV Mk III is the second developmental flight of the rocket. It carried its first development flight on June 5, 2017, in which it successfully launched a 3,136 kg GSAT-19 satellite (the first heaviest satellite launched from India). ISRO has plans of sending the astronauts to space in the 2022 Gaganyaan mission with the help of the same rocket.

The rocket is 43.4 meters tall and weighs around 640 tonnes, having a capacity of carrying up to four tonnes of weight to space. It is a heavy-lift three-stage rocket. The first stage consists of two solid fuel strap-on engines, at the second stage it has a liquid propellant core, and the third stage is for a cryogenic engine. India is one of the six countries, including the US, Russia, France, Japan and China, to own the cryogenic engine technology.

The GSAT 29 satellite contains the communication transponders to provide communication in remote regions of India, specifically in Jammu Kashmir and the northeast, under the Digital India programme.

A spokesperson from ISRO said. “The GSAT 29 carries Ka/Ku-band high throughput communication transponders intended to meet the communication requirements of users including those in remote areas. In addition, several new technologies such as Q/V-band payload, data transmission through optical communication link will be demonstrated. This will help in realising future advanced satellites.’’

ISRO has been doing amazingly well in its space missions for the past few years, and now it intends to have ten more launches before the new year. And the successful launch of the GSLV Mk III rocket has confirmed the moon mission Chandrayaan 2, that will be carried out in January next year and India’s first human spaceflight programme scheduled for 2022.