The new in the world of technology

The key to virtual private networks - or  VPN  - is the creation of the encrypted tunnel from the client to the VPN server. Through this tunnel, all the internet data is transmitted back and forth. The privacy of the VPN connection is based on the encryption used, to keep the data going through it secure from both hackers and others - like your ISP - that want to take a peek. There are plenty of options for the encrypted data  VPN protocol , each with its advantages and disadvantages. Some popular ones are PPTP, SSTP, and OpenVPN (which has both TCP and UDP variants). The goals of any of these encryption protocols is to provide a high level of encryption, with a low overhead of computing resources. While OpenVPN remains quite popular with its 256-bit encryption, it does go back to 2001, and much has changed with computing since Windows XP debuted. WireGuard is a more recent entry into the world of VPN encryption protocols and is just beginning to gain more traction in the cybersecurity

Updated 4/8/20: We've updated this story with a new statement from Canon now that the image.canon service is back online. Just a few months after it launched, Canon's image.canon  cloud storage  platform recently had to temporarily shut down after an issue caused the loss of some users' photo and video files. Well, now it's back online, with Canon confident that it's resolved the issues. The service went down on 30 July, with a new statement on the image.canon site saying that "after the investigation, we identified that some of the photo and video image files saved in the 10GB long-term storage prior to June 16, 2020 9am (JST) were lost". It "temporarily suspended" the service over the weekend, but "after having resolved the issue that resulted in the loss of the photo and video image files, we resumed the image.canon service as of August 4, 2020". That's not quite the end of the story, though. There are still some problems with im

B loatware on Android phones has been around for so long — especially  on  Samsung   and Huawei phones — that it's hardly even news anymore. Even so , it was a  huge  surprise when we found out that OnePlus has involved itself in this dubious practice. The OxygenOS bloatware in question comes from probably the shadiest company of them all — Facebook. Starting with the OnePlus 8 series and continuing with the Nord, users have had to put up with a bunch of Facebook-owned apps and a few background services on their brand-new handsets, some of which cannot be uninstalled. This came to our attention when Max Weinbach of XDA  tweeted  a couple of screenshots of the Instagram app updating via the Facebook App Manager service instead of through Play Store as you'd expect. A number of people on  Reddit  pointed out that this has been the case for some time. We checked several OnePlus phones, and sure enough, the company's three most recent models come with system apps and services f

If you've followed the story of the Google Files app's Safe folder feature, you'd know it's been a roller-coaster. It was first  spotted in developme nt mid-June , but two weeks later, we saw  signs of it being unceremoniously killed  before it even went live for anyone. Well, it now appears to be alive and well, as it just showed up in the latest Files beta version. (Update: And Google has just formally announced the rollout.) The feature allows you to move any file, be it a document or media file, into a secure location that's only accessible with a 4-digit PIN code. You might call it a porn folder, but it could also be useful for work purposes and to protect any other files you don't want someone to see inadvertently if they access your phone. In Files 1.0.323, the new  Safe folder  shows up under  Collections . Tapping it lets you set up and confirm a 4-digit PIN code that will protect your delicate files. Now when browsing through your regular files, you ca

EARLY VERDICT The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is big, bold and brash. It features almost every top-end spec you could want on a premium smartphone, and going on first impressions it looks capable of competing with the cream of the Android crop and Apple’s best iPhones, although we’ll need to test it more thoroughly to see if it meets our expectations. FOR Top of the line specs Strong design AGAINST Big for the hand Oddly dated ‘fast’ charging tech The new Galaxy Note 20 Ultra isn’t any bigger than Samsung’s top phone from six months ago, but it may be wholly better, with a huge 6.9-inch screen, feature-packed stylus and top-of-the-line specs. Of course, you’ll need a big hand and deep pockets to embrace Samsung’s new best.  Oddly, the Note 20 Ultra feels like more of a sibling of the Galaxy S20 Ultra than of the  Galaxy Note 20 , which was released alongside it at  Samsung's virtual Unpacked event . The standard Note 20 is a decidedly lower-specced version of the Note 20 Ultra, wh