UPDATED: WWDC 2016: Apple keynote date, news and rumors

Update: Apple's WWDC keynote has an official start time, according to recently sent out press invites, so we've added that must-know information below.

WWDC is Apple's annual Moses moment: it's when developers gather to see what Tim Cook's got on his tablet, and that gathering starts in a few days time.

Apple's WWDC keynote starts on Monday, June 13 at 10am Pacific (that's 1pm Eastern, 6pm GMT), and it promises to be one of the more interesting ones for the Cupertino company.

Not only will we likely see new versions of Apple's OSes, but we're expected to be treated to important new hardware refreshes. Here's what we expect to see at WWDC 2016.

MacBook Pro 2016

The MacBook has just been refreshed, so the MacBook Pro is next for an update - and where better to unveil a new Pro laptop range than at your annual developers' conference?

The most obvious update for the MacBook Pro 2016 is to use Intel's Skylake processors, which are already in PC rivals. The move to Skylake is more dramatic than the move to Broadwell processors, which were mainly about improved battery life; Skylake delivers significant speed improvements, plus support for WiGig and WiDi wireless data transfer and wireless charging, although we don't expect to see those features this year.

A redesign might be on the cards too - the design hasn't changed much in eight years - although many Pro users are rather keen on their expansion ports so we might not see a razor-thin MacBook-style Pro just yet. Thinner with USB-C ports, yes. Razor-thin with just one port, probably not.

MacBook Air 2016

The MacBook Air is overdue an update: it's still on Broadwell processors while rivals run faster, more efficient Skylakes, so the announcement of a MacBook Air 2016 is likely.

Multiple reports late last year predicted a "significant refresh" of the Airs in mid-2016 with Retina displays, USB-C, Skylake processors and the end of the 11-inch model, but there's a great deal of uncertainty over the Air's future: does Apple really need to make the Air when it has a range of super-portable Retina MacBooks alongside refreshed MacBook Pros?

We're hearing conflicting reports on this: some say a refresh, the end of the 11-inch and the introduction of a 15-inch Air; others say that the Air is going to be grounded.

Apple Watch 2

A new version of watchOS is inevitable, but leaks suggest that a new, thinner Apple Watch 2 is on the cards as well. That makes sense, as a June announcement would give developers several months to work on apps for an Autumn release.

We don't expect it to look significantly different - there's already an ecosystem of screen protectors, stands and expensive straps, and it's a bit early for Apple to junk that in favor of a new design - but the internals are expected to be significantly improved. The most tantalizing rumor comes via the Wall Street Journal, which says that the Apple Watch 2 will have its own cellular modem.

If true, that means the Watch will become approximately eleventy billion times more useful. We already know that Apple wants all third party apps to run natively on the Watch rather than on the iPhone, something that should make apps run significantly faster; giving those apps a phone-free data connection too would significantly boost their powers.

It's also been rumored that Apple will base its Watch 2 processor on the ARM Cortex A32, which is 25% faster than the current ARM-based processor and offers vastly improved battery life, addressing one of the Watch's biggest issues. The current Apple Watch uses a System on a Chip (SoC) based on the ARMv7 architecture, but the Cortex A32 is based on ARMv8 and was designed specifically for wearable devices.

The Apple Watch 2 may get an improved set of sensors too. Apple has been busily hiring health experts and medical sensor engineers, although Tim Cook has specifically ruled out an FDA-approved Apple Watch. He hasn't ruled out an FDA-approved Apple Watch strap, however, and both patents and rumors say Apple has been working on the idea of sensor-packed Watch straps for greatly improved health monitoring.

The big question over the Apple Watch is whether Apple will release a brand new, significantly improved version this year, or if it'll do an iPhone and release a slightly improved S version - possibly with a FaceTime camera - as a stopgap before a more exciting new model next year. With so many Watch owners getting them as Christmas presents just a few months ago, it may be too soon for Apple to launch a dramatically different model.rt

iOS 10

iOS 10 will get the usual WWDC launch, late Summer beta and Autumn release, and we'd expect it to drop support for the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S, not least because we thought they'd get the bullet last year.

Rumored new features include iCloud Voicemail, where Siri can handle incoming calls and apologise if you can't take them; 3D Touch in a refreshed, customizable Control Center; a Health-style Home app for HomeKit; and possibly multi-user support for iPads.

Our favorite rumor is that in iOS 10 we'll finally be able to remove the stock Apple apps that everybody keeps in a junk folder. The App Store is also getting a revamp to make decent apps easier to find.

iOS 10 could be bad news for jailbreakers and the FBI: Redmond Pie reports that the OS has a new "rootless" security system that will make iPhones and iPads impossible to jailbreak. Apple is also working on stronger iCloud security and encryption and bringing as much as possible of its cloud infrastructure in-house.

Of all the Apple products at WWDC 2016, iOS 10 will be the one getting the most attention: Apple watchers will be checking iOS 10's tea leaves for signs of what's coming in the iPhone 7.

macOS / OS X 10.12

Are we seeing the end of the OS X name? Apple has trademarked lots of Californian place names so it isn't short of successors to El Capitan, but code buried deep inside a file that's been in OS X's System folder since 2015 refers not to OS X, but to macOS - the name Apple used to use for its operating system.

It seems to be more than a retro flashback; OS X doesn't fit with the current Apple OS convention that spans watchOS, tvOS and iOS, and Apple's latest update to its environmental page described macOS, not OS X.

Whatever it's called, Siri on the desktop is the most likely headline feature in OS X 10.12, with Siri getting a Spotlight-style button on the menu bar and his or her own preference pane. Photos may be getting a revamp too, but most of the changes are under the hood, with Apple focusing once again on performance and battery life.

As with iOS 10 we'd expect Apple to announce OS X 10.12 at WWDC 2016, make it available as a public beta shortly afterwards and release it in the Autumn.

Apple TV

Apple's long-rumored streaming TV service might actually be ready for prime time this year, with Apple doing a Netflix and making some of its own programs.

The service is expected to be available across Apple TV and iOS devices, with an announcement at WWDC 2016 and a launch in September. tvOS isn't due any dramatic updates, although bringing Siri Remote to the iOS app is likely.

Beats Radio

Hands up who wants more Beats radio stations? Apple has trademarked Beats 2 through 5, although as ever with trademarks that doesn't mean it has any plans to use them. Some non-music programming would be interesting, though: we quite fancy an audio equivalent of Apple's News app.

Apple Pay

Apple Pay has been doing some big numbers, and Apple is keen to expand its allure. A person-to-person payment option is apparently in development, and Bank of America, Chase and Wells Fargo have been working on Apple Pay support in their ATMs. That's potentially huge, because Apple Pay is more secure than a PIN and can't be captured by card skimmers.

Mac Pro

Remember Darth Vader's dustbin, the inimitable Mac Pro? It's been two years since the last update, and it's looking as if Apple doesn't love it any more. For many people the iMac with Retina 5K display is more than adequate, and much cheaper than a Mac Pro plus a third-party 5K display.

However, the Mac Pro remains Apple's most powerful computer, and for the professionals whose apps can use its horsepower a speed bump courtesy of new, Skylake Xeons would be welcome. We're hoping that the lack of Mac Pro updates is because Apple's working on a really amazing new one, not losing interest in it altogether.

New iPads, new iPhones and the Apple Car

Nope. Apple has just launched the iPhone SE and the iPad Pro 9.7, and while Apple's Project Titan car is the worst kept secret in tech its car plans are targeting a launch date of 2018/19 at the earliest: while Tim Cook has promised amazing innovation from Apple this year, we don't think that means he'll come screaming onto the stage in an Apple Car, pulling handbrake turns and speaking like Jeremy Clarkson. Although it'd be funny if he did.

• There's plenty in the works for Google IO 2016 too

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Round up: The best free antivirus software 2016

Introduction

The internet is a dangerous place. Leave your PC unprotected and, no matter how careful you are, it's only a matter of time before a malicious program slips through your defences. All it takes is one accidental visit to a compromised page, and you're in for a world of trouble.

There's a wealth of free tools out there to protect you from such disasters, but not all such security packages are created equal. We've rounded up nine of the best free downloads to keep you safe online, looking at their effectiveness, speed and ease of use. Have we missed your favourite? Let us know in the comments below.

Avira Free Antivirus

Fancy benefiting from the experience of 477 million people? That's the number of times Avira Free Antivirus has been installed, and its cloud-based security pools their history of virus exposure: if a user on the other side of the planet encounters a new nasty, all of Avira's users get the ability to detect it.

It's fast, friendly, doesn't give you too many prompts and alerts, can identify unwanted apps inside legitimate applications and most importantly of all, achieved 100 per cent malware detection in tests - a score shared with BitDefender and Kaspersky, but significantly ahead of many of its rivals.

The main program also comes with an optional browser extension that can prevent sites from tracking you online.

This impressive set of functions makes Avira Free Antivirus our top-rated free security program. Read on to discover eight more of the best free antivirus tools available right now. Have we missed your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition

Some antivirus programs want to know all about you and pop up excitedly to tell you about new updates or every potential threat they've stopped. Not BitDefender Antivirus Free Edition. It's the ninja of antivirus software, lurking silently until it needs to unleash its skills.

It's ad-free and nag-free, maintenance-free and lightweight in operation: it doesn't slow down your PC or interrupt your working day for no good reason.

If you like to fiddle then you might find other apps more to your liking, but for those of us who prefer a little peace and quiet BitDefender is hard to beat.

Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+

As the name suggests, Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+ started life as an anti-adware program, and it was a very good one - but over the years it's evolved to address more threats, so today it's a fully-fledged security suite that scans downloaded files, keeps an eye out for spyware, enables you to compare web addresses against known offenders and won't interrupt you when you're playing a game.

It doesn't have the features of its paid-for siblings - if you want anti-phishing email protection, parental controls and file destruction you'll need to pay for it - but the core product covers the essentials very well.

360 Total Security 2016

Why take one virus detection engine onto the internet when you can take four? 360 Total Security 2016 from Qihoo combines Avira, BitDefender, 360 Cloud Scan Engine and 360 QVMII AI Engine, so in theory it should probably detect threats before they've even been invented, let alone released.

But can you trust it? In some circles Qihoo is seen as the Volkswagen of security software, tweaking its programs to gain artificially inflated scores in tests - and the BitDefender engine is switched by default, so you aren't getting quite the protection you might think until you adjust some settings.

It's powerful if a little slow, but lingering trust issues aren't great when you're deciding which firm can keep your stuff safe.

Panda 2016 Free Antivirus

Panda Free Antivirus has headed for the clouds with this version, which does all the heavy lifting on Panda's servers to reduce the load on your PC.

As we've come to expect from free programs there are lots of optional features that you only get if you pay - Wi-Fi scanning, password management, file encryption and parental controls - but the basics are covered well and Panda scores well in independent virus detection tests. It isn't quite up there with Avast, AVG or BitDefender, but it's still very good.

Avast Free Anti-Virus 2016

Avast Free Anti-Virus 2016 is an impressive offering. It protects against malware and viruses, can identify weaknesses in your home Wi-Fi and includes a well-implemented password manager to keep your complex login details safe and easy to access.

As with most free products you get even more features if you're willing to pay - there's no anti-phishing protection or spam filtering in Avast Free - but the free version is perfectly respectable and keeps you safe from the most common online attacks.

AVG AntiVirus Free 2016

We've been using AVG AntiVirus Free for years, and it's a very good security program - albeit a little too keen to inform us about things we don't really need to know.

The dashboard is user-friendly, the scanner checks links as well as downloaded files, and there's a clever tool that enables you to scan your PC from your mobile phone if you think it's become infected. The paid-for versions attempt to lure you with promises even more robust download protection, data encryption and firewalls to make online threats redundant, but the standard free edition of AVG offers a great deal of protection for no money.

Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Defender

Who better to protect your PC than the company whose operating system facilitated all the security issues in the first place? We kid, of course - Windows is more secure than it's ever been, and Microsoft has invested massive sums in system protection in the form of Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows 7 and Vista, and Windows Defender, which is built into Windows 8 and 10.

The result, as you'd expect, integrates very well with Windows, but it consistently lagged behind the likes of BitDefender in independent testing. While the 2015 version was pretty hopeless in detection tests, the 2016 one is a vast improvement - but Microsoft is still on the back foot and rival programs offer better protection. It's much, much better than nothing, but it's not the best.

Your bank

To keep your account details safe online, many banks offer free licences for security software you'd normally expect to pay for.

McAfee subscriptions are free to MBNA card and HSBC bank customers, saving you £40 (about US$57, AU$79), while users of Barclays online banking can get a free 12-month subscription to Kaspersky Internet Security worth £30 (about US$43, AU$59).

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Windows 10 finally overtakes Windows 7 – at least for gamers

Windows 10 has finally surpassed Windows 7, at least when it comes to PC gamers on Steam.

Previously, Windows 10 64-bit had become the single most popular strain of OS, but now the total number of Windows 10 users (both 32-bit and 64-bit) has outstripped the total number of Windows 7 gamers (32-bit and 64-bit).

Last month, Windows 7 was still just a smidgen ahead in this regard, but in the month of May, Windows 10 achieved a total of 41.05% market share for Steam gamers (a 1.54% gain), and that meant it was 2% ahead of Windows 7 which found itself dropping back to 39.02%.

As for other operating systems, Windows 8/8.1 totaled 13.02%, with Windows XP still persisting on 1.96% and Vista bringing up the rear on 0.3%.

OS X gamers accounted for 3.6% of Steam users, with those on Linux hitting 0.84%.

Gathering momentum

It's likely that we'll see Windows 10 accelerate further still this month and next, given that at the end of July, Microsoft's offer of a free upgrade from Windows 7/8 expires. Therefore we can expect a lot of fence-sitters to make the jump before they are forced to pay.

Microsoft's latest desktop OS offers a major plus for gamers which helps explain why they are more keen adopters than the general computing population – and that's DirectX 12, the benefits of which are barred for anyone but Windows 10 users. And as the number of games that support DX12 increases, this will only be a driver for further OS upgrades.

It's also a reason we may see a bigger spike in the number of gamers making the leap to Windows 10 in the next two months before the upgrade deadline, for the simple fear of what they might miss out on in the future if they don't take the freebie now.

• Also check out our in-depth guide to Steam Machines

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TeamViewer outage sparks hacking claims which the company denies

TeamViewer went offline for a number of hours yesterday afternoon, an event which reportedly coincided with users seeing their PCs compromised – although the company denies any connection here, and insists it hasn't been hacked as many users have claimed.

Following yesterday's outage, a number of TeamViewer users went online to complain about having their machines breached. As The Register reports, some folks actually observed attackers taking control of the mouse cursor, and in some cases where able to take action to prevent damage.

However, others weren't so lucky and found that PayPal and other accounts had been accessed and financial havoc wreaked.

On Twitter, TeamViewer's tech support apologised for the outage and any inconvenience caused, but the company denied that any security breach had taken place.

In a statement from the firm's PR department, TeamViewer said that it wasn't hacked and that the application is fully safe to use.

Poor password practices

As for the cause of the compromises reported by users, TeamViewer said that was down to "careless use", and specifically the reuse of passwords across multiple online accounts (suggesting that attackers used a password gleaned elsewhere from another breach).

The TeamViewer statement read: "There is no evidence to suggest that TeamViewer has been hacked. Neither do we have any information that would suggest that there is a security hole in TeamViewer. Therefore it is important to stress there are no TeamViewer hackers, but rather data thieves that will steal information from other sources."

The Register has heard whispers that there may have been some sort of sophisticated DNS hijacking plan enacted by cybercriminals to hoover up TeamViewer login details, but the company clearly isn't accepting that anything like this occurred.

• Microsoft bans rubbish passwords following LinkedIn leak

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Windows 10 Mobile users: here's how to get Facebook Messenger right now

Windows 10 Mobile has been having a hard time and that's largely down to a lack of apps, with both Android and iOS offering millions of apps each, while Windows doesn't even have all the big names.

But you can add one more big name to the list of apps the platform does offer, because, as spotted by MSPowerUser, Facebook Messenger is now available for it.

You can grab the app from the Windows Store, but it's still rolling out and currently seems to only be available in France and Germany, so while the listing is up it may show as unavailable for you.

If so you have two options, you can check back periodically, as it should hopefully be more widely available soon.

Or, as Neowin reports, you can temporarily change the region on your Windows Store account to France or Germany, then once you have the app you can change it back and still freely download it from the My Library section of the store.

The app is still in beta, so it may not be entirely stable, but it looks to be feature-rich, with group messaging, notifications, stickers, GIFs, photos, videos and more all included, so you can finally get the full Facebook chat experience on your Windows phone.

This is great news for existing users of the platform, but is unlikely to make much difference to its fortunes, with the low market share for Windows 10 Mobile ensuring it will continue to be an afterthought for most app developers.

If you've got Facebook, you've got something

Still, it's promising that Facebook continues to engage with the platform at all, even if it takes its time to bring its apps over.

With Instagram and WhatsApp both under the Facebook umbrella too it's one of the single biggest and most important app developers, so as long as Windows 10 Mobile has Facebook's support it's going to have at least some key apps.

What's not clear is whether Facebook is supporting the platform under its own steam or whether Microsoft is making more of a push to get big apps on there.

We've contacted both companies for comment and will update this story when we hear back.

• Could the rumored Surface Phone save Windows 10 Mobile?

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How will open source AI change the tech industry?

Introduction and Watson on the cloud

After years in the labs, artificial intelligence (AI) is being unleashed at last. Google, Microsoft and Facebook have all made their own AI APIs open source in recent months, while IBM has opened Watson (pictured above) for business and Amazon has purchased AI startup Orbeus. These announcements have not drawn much media attention, but are hugely significant.

"In the long run, I think we will evolve in computing from a mobile-first world to an AI-first world," says Google CEO Sundar Pichai. What does the appearance of AI bots and machine learning on the open market mean for business, IT, big data, and for sellers of physical hardware?

What's happening to the major AI platforms?

The AI APIs now opening up are essentially free platforms on which companies can build incredibly powerful analytics tools. "These hugely powerful tools, used, developed and backed by the world's most advanced technology companies, are now available to anyone with the skills to use them," says Matt Jones, Senior Analytics Project Manager at analytics and data science company Tessella.

He continues: "Using these toolkits, individually or combined, anyone can integrate transformational AI or machine learning platforms – which are as sophisticated as anything currently on the market – to their business on a pay as you go, or free basis." The tech industry – and digital business in general – is on the cusp of something very big.

Google, Microsoft and Facebook

It may have announced plans for its Google Home speaker-assistant to rival Amazon's Echo in 'smart' homes, but the search engine giant has much bigger plans for AI. Part of Google since January 2014, DeepMind's AlphaGo neural network beat mankind at the ancient Chinese game of Go recently. DeepMind is the main attraction on TensorFlow a deep learning framework that Google made open source in 2015.

Meanwhile, Facebook is focused on developing its M bot platform that should see its Messenger app flooded with third-party apps that let companies and their customers execute tasks on the platform, such as paying bills, making bank transfers, and even ordering an Uber ride. The Facebook M virtual assistant will follow.

And over at Redmond, Microsoft Cognitive Services and the Microsoft Bot Framework is aimed at getting developers to create AI-powered apps and bots that work on everything from Skype and Office 365 to Slack and SMS.

Watson on the cloud

The existence and planned expansion of IBM's cloud-based cognitive computing platform is well known, and Big Blue offers its Watson API on a 'freemium' basis.

Around 80,000 developers have accessed the Watson collection of APIs since 2013 through a dedicated cloud platform that IBM is calling 'self-service artificial intelligence'. It's designed to help coders, data scientists and analysts create apps that tap into the power of the Watson supercomputer for prediction, natural language processing, and much more. Machine learning and text analytics will also soon be on the menu from IBM's Watson Knowledge Studio.

Image recognition

While some invest in AI, others are making acquisitions to catch up. While IBM's Watson has a new Visual Recognition API and Google's image recognition is well known, Apple recently purchased 'emotion measurement' (i.e. face recognition) company Emotient. Meanwhile, Amazon bought a deep learning neural networks startup called Orbeus, whose ReKognition API specialises in photo recognition, too.

Open season for developers

With the arrival on the cloud of high-power cognitive platforms, it's open season for app developers, who are expected to use the fruits of AI to unleash better and better apps.

"IBM Watson, Google DeepMind and the like are incredibly high-power cognitive platforms that are enabling developers to do really interesting projects," says Frank Palermo, Executive Vice President of Global Digital Solutions at global IT services company VirtusaPolaris. "It's great they are now making these cognitive platforms readily accessible – particularly for researchers and others scientific pursuits, but also for knowledge workers across all industries."

For instance, the boom in online education could create AI-powered teachers, which could help improve retention rates.

OpenAI and the intelligent future

What is the OpenAI project?

Elon Musk is getting involved in AI, too, by supporting OpenAI, a non-profit research company focused on advancing digital intelligence for the common good. "Elon Musk has launched the OpenAI project with a star-studded list of backers – Palantir CEO Peter Thiel, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and Y Combinator president Sam Altman," says an impressed Jones.

OpenAI is headed up by machine learning expert Ilya Sutskever, ex-Google Brain Team member, and has just opened the OpenAI Gym in beta to help developers working with 'reinforced learning', a type of machine learning that's central to AI. Essentially, it's about getting software to alter its behaviour in a dynamic environment in order to get a reward (you can't give Siri a biscuit every time she 'found this on the web').

What does this mean for the IT industry?

The arrival of AI means a changing of the guard in the tech industry, with disruption, innovation – and the complete domination of the cloud. Standalone data analytics platforms? No need. Expensive infrastructure? Ditto. Expertise, not investment, will become king. That, and superfast broadband.

"It will ultimately help to drive innovation and growth, and we could see new business models emerge," says Palermo, who thinks that Amazon's entry into the AI market is especially interesting given the unbridled success of Amazon's AWS.

"As with cloud before it, Amazon may start renting time on Orbeus by the hour so that knowledge workers can work on a specific project," he adds. "This will help to normalise the use of AI and cognitive capabilities and greatly enhance our ability to process information." However, reshaping computing does mean some pain-points.

The death of the black box

You need computing power and analytics? AI APIs have the answer. "Any task currently performed by a costly black box AI platform, such as identifying where to drill for oil, predicting disease outbreaks, optimising scientific experiments to develop new products, and predictive maintenance, can now be done in-house," says Jones. Crucially, a business using these AI APIs will maintain complete control and oversight of its data.

How disruptive could AI APIs be?

Very. The kind of expertise most companies – especially startups – only dreamed of will be available instantly, online, 24/7. Accessing the world's most advanced computers via these open platforms will cost only the price of a data scientist's salary or consultancy fee. "This is very important for a lot of the world's businesses, and they need to take it seriously," says Jones. "If its true potential is realised, it will unleash a new generation of innovative startups that apply the latest AI techniques to disrupt the establishment."

The intelligent future

For industries already migrating to the cloud at an alarming rate, AI raises the stakes even further. We already inhabit a world where the cloud's scalable storage has enabled startups like Twitter, Spotify, Netflix and WhatsApp to challenge entrenched big players. By making the very latest AI open source and available to all online, the likes of Google, Facebook, Amazon and IBM could help create a new wave of businesses that harness data. That puts data analytics platforms, pricey IT infrastructure and storage devices on borrowed time.

• Microsoft's Bots could be its biggest contribution to computing since Windows

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Is bloatware a security disaster waiting to happen on your laptop?

Bloatware installed by major PC manufacturers isn't a new problem, of course, but it seems to increasingly be a security risk – stories of vulnerabilities have become more prevalent in recent times, and a new report from Duo Labs has made some worrying discoveries.

Software updaters are an obvious target for an attacker, as Duo points out in its 'Security Analysis of OEM Updaters' report, in which the firm carried out an investigation of the updating tools on notebooks from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. The results? 12 separate vulnerabilities were uncovered across these vendors.

Both HP and Acer updaters carried two high-risk vulnerabilities that could allow for arbitrary code execution on the host laptop, with Asus, Dell and Lenovo carrying one high-risk vulnerability.

In other words, every single manufacturer had at least one vulnerability which could allow an attacker to completely compromise the machine in question, and they could do so with relatively minimal effort (i.e. in less than 10 minutes).

That's not a pretty security picture, and it confirms the fact that if PC manufacturers are going to include software updaters, they really must try much harder to fully secure them.

Fixing holes

Duo Labs reported the security holes to the respective PC makers three months back in line with standard disclosure terms, so the manufacturers could fix these problems before they came to light publicly.

The firm notes that HP has fixed its vulnerabilities and Lenovo removed the software in question, which is a fix of sorts. Acer and Asus both responded to Duo, but haven't given a timeframe for a fix yet – presumably they'll be coming soon. Dell's response isn't mentioned.

Duo's recommendation for users of laptops which haven't fixed these issues is to "fully disable updaters and remove all third-party components to be fully protected from these vulnerabilities."

The firm further notes: "In addition, organisations should install basic security functions, such as two-factor authentication, to ensure users are who they say they are, and turn on encryption."

• Also check out: More woe for Lenovo, Dell and Toshiba over laptop bloatware gone bad

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