Microsoft last week unveiled a new beta of its long-simmering Windows Anti-Spyware package, marking the company’s first major foray into computer security technology intended for end users. For years, Microsoft has been heaped with criticism for the seemingly unending barrage of privacy and security issues exposed in its Windows and application products, yet the software giant left the work of developing end-user security solutions largely to third parties, focusing instead on closing holes, issuing patches, and releasing updates to its own products. Now Microsoft is aiming to work both sides of the fence, developing a security tool intended for everyday computer users while continuing to improve the security of its product offerings. Many security-conscious Windows users flocked to the Anti-Spyware beta, eager to see what Microsoft’s own security product might offer compared to third-party applications.
However, some early testers of Microsoft Anti-Spyware were in for a surprise as the product identified installations of Norton AntiVirus as a password-stealing Trojan horse program. If users went along with Windows Anti-Spyware’s recommendation and removed the “infection,” Windows Anti-Spyware would happily cripple Norton AntiVirus on the computer, a problem which could apparently only be corrected via manual registry edits and re-installation of the Symantec software.
For its part, Microsoft clearly labels the current release of Windows Anti-Spyware as a beta release suitable only for feedback and testing purposes: Microsoft does not warrant the software to be free of major problems, warns users against installing it on critical systems, and does not provide technical support for Windows Anti-Spyware. (Although informal discussion via newsgroups is available.) Microsoft also quickly updated its definition sets to eliminate false identification of Norton AntiVirus as a Trojan: users with Windows Anti-Spyware installed are urged to choose File > Check for Updates to make sure they have the latest definitions.
Of course, the snafu had some sectors of the Internet cheering for a Microsoft product which “finally did something right.” In recent years Norton AntiVirus has developed a reputation for consuming inordinate amounts of CPU and processing power, sapping performance from systems it allegedly protecting. Many technical users recommend (sometimes free) alternative security products as better-performing alternatives to Norton AntiVirus.
Did you think hitting delete on your AI chatbot conversation actually makes it disappear? Georgia Tech researchers just proved that's not entirely true. They have built a forensic tool called ORISA that can dig deleted conversations from your phone and even rebuild them into a working chatbot session you can keep talking to.
How can ORISA bring deleted AI conversations back?
Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).
Two residents of Chicago have filed a lawsuit in the US over claims that robots run by Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics captured their facial and hand measurements without consent, bringing renewed attention to the food delivery robots. The cases raise a troubling question: If a robot delivers food to your door, can it also be gathering sensitive information about you?
According to a report by The Associated Press, the proposed class-action lawsuits were filed in Cook County on Oct. 9 and allege violations of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act. The complaints claim that the robots’ cameras and LiDAR sensors captured information on customers’ faces and hands as they approached the machines to pick up their orders. Both have denied the allegations.