WinRAR is a powerful archival tool that has been available for the past 23 years, allowing users to unpack and create RAR, ZIP, and other archive files. But recently, a collection of security researchers at Check Point Software Technologies have discovered that a vulnerability that could allow malicious individuals to take advantage of users’ machines running the software, implanting startup programs without any needed authorization from the user.
Most users who had used WinRAR around the turn of the century most likely remember the software for its 40-day trial that could easily be bypassed — allowing for continuous use after the initial trial period. WinRAR still exists today, which is why the company quickly patched its software after learning about the vulnerability, adding a fix in version 5.7 beta 1 for an update that is long overdue.
The exact details of the dangerous vulnerability came down to a single DLL file — files used by Windows to access libraries of digital information — that enabled exploiters to use an old component from the defunct ACE archive format. The ACE archive format was last updated in 2007, but WinRAR had decided to continue support for the format until now.
By merely renaming an ACE archive file extension to RAR, WinRAR can be manipulated to extract a malicious program into the computer’s startup folder. Using the exploit, the archive file would appear to decompress and extract itself as usual, while at the same time, in the background, inserting its contents into system folders. Instead of attempting to fix the particular issue, the team at WinRAR have instead dropped support for ACE archives.
Archiving files has come a long way since the world of ACE, and most users will find both the RAR and ZIP file formats to be much more effective than their older sibling. The software is still available on the web for anyone who may have older ACE files to extract or compress, but current Windows users using WinRAR will need to move forward in time if they wish to stay with their archive software of choice.
The ACE vulnerability existed for almost 20 years, with over 500 million WinRAR users, without being patched; it practically begs the question, if we all paid for the trial — would this have ever happened?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.