An Android "fleeceware" campaign has been discovered that began nearly two years ago, involved about 470 apps in the Google Play store that were downloaded at least 105 million times, and may have stolen hundreds of millions of dollars from phone users all over the world.

Researchers at security firm Zimperium have named the campaign "Dark Herring." In a report posted yesterday (January 26), they explained that the apps themselves actually worked as promised — as games, entertainment apps, productivity tools, photo filters and so on.

But the apps also sent many users to deceptive web pages, tailored to the users' languages and countries of residence. Those pages asked users to enter their phone numbers for "verification," but in fact signed the users up to recurring charges that averaged $15 per month — a lot of money in some parts of the world.

The Zimperium researchers called Dark Herring "one of the most extensive and successful malware campaigns by measure of the sheer number of applications" that they had seen in 2021.

"The total amount of money scammed out of unsuspecting users could ... be well into the hundreds of millions of dollars," they added.

Microsoft is making further improvements to Windows 11 with a better way to manage your Office and Xbox subscriptions within the Settings app if a Windows Insider build is to be believed.

A Windows Insider build can allow a user to sign up to a release of Windows that’s under development, which could showcase new apps, new features, or different ways to access parts of the user interface.

This change has been in the ‘Dev Channel’ of Windows Insider since late last year and has recently moved up to the ‘Release Channel’ build, numbered 22000.466. This most likely means that we could be seeing this arrive to all Windows 11 users sooner than Sun Valley 2, the next big update to the operating system.

We’ve been pleased to see Microsoft constantly look at aspects of Windows and how it could make the operating system easier on the eye, or just easier to use. While this is a small change, it’s going to make a big difference to those who manage Office subscriptions for their family or small business, or your personal Xbox Game Pass subscription.

Going to 'Settings > Accounts > Your Microsoft Account' in the Windows 11 Release Channel will show your active subscriptions, payment history, and rewards, mirroring what you would normally see on the web.

Password managers are not only among the safest ways to keep all your online accounts secure, but they also save you from one of the most annoying predicaments in the world: forgetting your password.

Gone are the days of conjuring up a mishmash of letters, numerals, and symbols for every application you’ve signed up for, as the best password managers store all your unique passwords in a secure digital vault that can only be accessed by you. Better yet, if you’re sick of creating another jumble of characters, a password manager will create a strong, random password for you. 

In a world rife with large-scale hacks that leak private information that can lead to fraud, identity theft, and ransom threats, it’s more important than ever to fortify all your professional, social and personal accounts. Using the same password with the inevitable “!” lobbed in at the end for all your profiles no longer makes the cut, as all it takes is one low-level hacker to crack the code and reap the rewards you thought were once secure.

While the best authenticator apps and best VPN services add an extra layer of protection for your daily online activity, the best password managers will keep the prying eyes of threat actors at bay. But there are a few things to think about before choosing the right password manager for you. 

Getting started with a password manager  

While the best password managers will create, save and secure your credentials — whether it be on your laptop, tablet or smartphone — for multiple online accounts, you’ll still need to come up with a master password to access all the others. This password needs to be unguessable and unforgettable at the same time, as it’s difficult to recover this vital piece of information; it isn’t as simple as hitting “forgot password.”