Alert for ALL Google Chrome users to ‘relaunch' browsers now – or device could be hijacked by worrying ‘zero-day' flaw
GOOGLE Chrome users have been warned to urgently update their browsers to avoid a potential cyber attack.
The tech giant has issued an alert to anyone who uses the browser on their PC.
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Google Chrome had a worrying glitch that could lead to hijacking
Credit: Getty
A concerning bug has been found on the popular app which could lead to hijacking of your device.
The bug has been given a "zero-day" mark which indicates that the vulnerability is being actively used by hackers in the wild.
Google has acted swiftly to address the issue and has now patched the browser to prevent it from any further attacks.
Google said: "Google is aware of reports that an exploit for CVE-2025-4664 exists in the wild.
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"The Stable channel has been updated to 136.0.7103.113/.114 for Windows, Mac and 136.0.7103.113 for Linux which will roll out over the coming days/weeks."
However, the fix will only work after it has been downloaded and installed on your browser.
Vsevolod Kokorin, a security researcher at Solidlab, was the first to discover this most recent Chrome issue and confirmed that it may result in an account takeover by cybercriminals.
It is now crucial to make sure you are using the most recent version of Chrome if you use it as your primary web browser.
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To accomplish this, just select "About Chrome" after clicking on the Chrome in the toolbar.
Make sure you have rebooted your browser to the latest version as soon as possible.
Mobile phone users never have to make calls AGAIN as Google launches bizarre new tool for appointments and more
It comes just hours after Google users have been alerted to check their accounts or
And it's especially worthwhile if you've ever used
and want to remember key places visited in the past.
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has been warning users for sometime that changes are coming soon.
Google Maps has a
The tool is especially handy for remembering special spots, such as where you met a partner or a fancy restaurant you once visited.
The tech giant is moving things around so data is kept on-device instead of in the cloud.
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Failure to act will result in users losing this past data.
That
deadline
is now here, set for today.
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The Irish Sun
8 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Households warned over common vape mistake that can cause ‘ferocious' toxic fires that are nearly impossible to put out
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"If a vape is substandard, exposed to high temperatures, short circuits or becomes damaged, it risks causing a toxic fire caused by a chemical reaction inside the battery cells. "This process, called Advertisement READ MORE ON TECH MISTAKES It's also important to use the right charging cable, and avoid leaving a vape in high temperatures or submerged in water. "If you own a vape it's really important you treat it with care, avoid carelessly throwing it around which may cause the battery inside to become damaged over time," explained Capanna. "Ensure you use a compatible charger for your device and keep it away from areas where it may be exposed to high temperatures or risk coming into contact with water." It follows a government ban on single-use vapes, primarily due to environmental concerns and a rise in youth vaping. Advertisement Most read in Tech Exclusive Breaking Since 1 June 2025, businesses have had to stop selling or supplying all single-use or 'disposable' vapes. As well as being an eyesore, littered vapes - both single-use and reusable - can also be a fire risk. Police raid largest spice vapes operation after kids were left hospitalised They also introduce harmful chemicals into the soil, rivers and streams, so it's "vital" they are recycled, according to Capanna. "Incorrectly disposing of your vape in your household bin risks it becoming crushed when being processed in the back of the lorry, triggering waste collection fires that release toxic fumes," he said. Advertisement "When your vape comes to the end of its life, either check if your local retailer offers a take back scheme to safely hand in your battery, or find your nearest recycling centre that will accept battery powered devices." 6 As well as being an eyesore, littered vapes - both single-use and reusable - can also be a fire risk Credit: Getty The London Fire Brigade has warned that here has been an uptick in vape-related fires across the UK, due to the devices being incorrectly thrown away in normal waste. When the lithium batteries become crushed in waste collection vehicles on their way to the landfill they can spark fires. Advertisement Lithium batteries store a lot of energy in a small space and although lithium-ion battery products that have been built to a poor standard are a higher fire risk, any battery is at risk of exploding and catching fire if it has been crushed or becomes damaged. London Fire Brigade A London Fire Brigade spokesperson told The Sun: "Fires involving vapes can occur when the lithium-ion batteries that power them fail or become damaged or crushed. "Lithium batteries store a lot of energy in a small space and although lithium-ion battery products that have been built to a poor standard are a higher fire risk, any battery is at risk of exploding and catching fire if it has been crushed or becomes damaged. "When lithium-ion battery fires happen, they can be ferocious and can spread in seconds." Between 2020 to 2024, the London Fire Brigade was called out to 41 vape-related fires, occurring in homes, shops, and even hospitals. Advertisement Six fire engines and approximately 40 firefighters were dispatched to tackle a blaze at a shop in Harlesden in August 2024 , which was believed to have been sparked by a faulty vape's lithium battery. Photos provided by the London Fire Brigade show blackened rooms blanketed with ash. 6 A rechargeable vape exploded in a visitor's bag at Hampstead hospital last year Credit: SWNS In April 2024, a day ward at Hampstead hospital was left damaged after the lithium battery in a rechargeable vape exploded in a visitor's bag. Advertisement Another photo from the brigade shows a South London home ravaged by a vape-related fire. A bedroom has been reduced to ashes, with all contents inside obliterated. Another risky mistake is to charge vapes by the bed or sofa. Glenn Flannery, commercial director at fire alarm systems provider Spy Alarms, warned that this is a "definite no-no". Advertisement "These devices often come without standards such as CE or ISO marking and therefore fall into a similar risk bracket as things like e-scooters. "However, due to their size and nature, we often find them being charged by the bed or the sofa... 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The Irish Sun
2 days ago
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Secret signs a snooper is reading your text messages or even posing as YOU – & clues to show it's happening as you sleep
IMAGINE if every text you've ever sent or received was being watched by a mystery stranger – or even someone you know. Well, that might be true. There are loads of ways that sinister spies can have a nose around your private text conversations, so knowing the signs is essential. 9 Special feature shows you every device where your account is signed in Credit: The Sun / Google We reveal the hidden and forgotten settings you need to check. 1 – CHECK YOUR ACCOUNT If you're worried about your texts being spied on, your first port of call should be checking settings in your main messaging accounts. After all, if someone has access to your Apple or Google account, or WhatsApp, then they have unrestricted access to your texts too. That's because they can simply log in as you and read everything you're up to. They can send texts as you, and trawl through your old chats if they want. It's about as nightmarish as it gets. Thankfully, most major tech services will let you see who is logged in on your account and kick them out. And once you do kick the person out, make sure to change your password and add a second layer of verification (like a code sent over text or an authenticator app) in your app settings. For Apple users, you can see a list of the devices where your Apple Account is logged in. Just go to Settings > [Your Name] on your Apple device, then scroll down to see the device. If you don't recognise one, just tap it and then choose Remove From Account. You can also do this on the website. For Google (and Once you're there, you can then easily sign out of any unrecognised devices. Deepfakes more 'sophisticated' and dangerous than ever as AI expert warns of six upgrades that let them trick your eyes You'll find other major apps like Facebook and Netflix all have similar settings – so it's worth checking them all every so often. 2 – MYSTERY NIGHT SPIKE You also need to watch out for someone close to you reading your texts in the middle of the night. Maybe you don't have a phone passcode, or it's someone you've shared your code with, or perhaps a nosy partner or family member who has seen you tap it in. First, go into Settings > General > iPhone Storage on your 9 Take a look at the order of your last-used apps – notice anything strange? Credit: The Sun / Apple Change the filter from Size to Last Used Date, which shows apps by when they were most recently used. If you see a chat app there that you know you didn't use recently (or in that order), then someone has been having a peek. Next , go to Settings > Screen Time and turn it on. It's a handy feature to track how much you're using your iPhone – but has a hidden spy-busting benefit too. Head into Settings > Screen Time > See All App & Website Activity, then scroll to Pickups. Now look for First Pickup. This shows when your iPhone was first picked up and opened on a given day, so you can see if someone unlocked it before you'd woken up. And third, go to Settings > Screen Time > See All App & Website Activity, then look for Most Used for today. Now look for an app you're worried is being accessed – like WhatsApp. You can see the exact hour slots for when that app was used, as well as the amount of time spent on it. 9 Go to the Screen Time feature here - it has a hidden spy-busting benefit Credit: The Sun / Apple So if someone opened your WhatsApp at 3am for five minutes, you'll know about it. If you have an Android phone, you can use a similar trick. But instead of Screen Time, you'll be looking for a Google Feature called Digital Wellbeing. You can tap on individual apps in Digital Wellbeing, and then check their Hourly usage – showing you when an app has been active. 3 – UNENCRYPTED CHAT APPS Lots of popular chat apps are totally encrypted. That's true of apps like WhatsApp, Signal, Facebook Messenger, and Apple's iMessage. That means when you send a text, it gets all jumbled up into an unreadable mess. And as it flies across the internet, it'll stay jumbled. 9 Look for apps that have "end-to-end encryption" for the best protection Credit: The Sun / WhatsApp / Apple Then, when it reaches your recipient, they have a special key to unlock it. No one else has that key. This key will turn it back into the original text. The idea is that no one can see the message as it's sent over the internet. You ideally want your stored messages encrypted too (this is called end-to-end encryption). For instance, WhatsApp can't read the texts you send in the app, because they're jumbled up. And your internet provider can't read those messages either, because it's just seeing garbled data. This also means if the Government, police, or spies want to snoop on your texts, they can't. They could get a warrant and demand that WhatsApp hand over your messages, but they wouldn't be able to read a thing. The other benefit is that without a backdoor into these texts, hackers can't read them while they're in transit either. They'd have to break into your phone instead, which is difficult. So if you're using non-encrypted chat apps, it puts you in greater danger. DON'T LET ENCRYPTION PUZZLE YOU Here's some advice from The Sun's tech editor Encryption is easy to forget about. You can't really see it, it's hardly exciting to think about, and if it works properly, then you never have to. But it's important because it prevents some of the most effective hack attacks. Not having your data encrypted is a bit like removing all the curtains and doors from your house. You (probably) wouldn't choose to live in a glass house where every wall was a window without blinds – so don't use apps that are much the same. Not for anything important, anyway. Think about all of the texts you've ever sent. Most of them are probably boring. But some of them will be personal and sensitive: private conversations with loved ones, chats about finances or medical issues, and even login details you've shared with family. Don't leave these in an unlocked box just waiting to be scooped up by a savvy hacker. Using encrypted apps is one of the best defences against cybercrime, and it costs nothing. Picture Credit: Sean Keach For a start, texts sent via old-school SMS aren't encrypted. Popular chat app Discord doesn't encrypt text chats – they're just stored on servers. Most video games won't encrypt text conversations you have either. Make sure you're not having any sensitive conversations unless you're sure that the app you're using is end-to-end encrypted. 4 – SECRET CONTACT CODE This one is a dead giveaway that you're not texting who you think you are. It relates to encryption. Remember: encryption scrambles your texts, and only the recipient with the correct key can unscramble them. Well, hackers have ways of getting around this, so tech giants have come up with a key-verifying system to put your mind at ease. How does it work? Move to here Let's start with iPhone owners, who can use Contact Key Verification in the Messages app. Turn it on by going into Settings > Name > Contact Key Verification > Verification in iMessage. 9 This allows you to check who you're talking to is who they say they are Credit: The Sun / Apple This makes sure that you are speaking to the person with a matching key – and not an impostor intercepting your texts. Once the setting is on, it'll automatically verify the Contact Key when you chat with another person. You'll get an alert if there's an error, which Apple says helps "make sure that even a very sophisticated attacker can't impersonate anyone in the conversation". You can also manually do this by tapping Conversation Details, and then generating a code at the same time to share and compare. WhatsApp has a similar feature called Security Code. Just open a chat with a pal, then tap the contact's name. Now tap on Encryption to view a QR code and a 60-digit number. Next time you're with your pal, you can scan the other person's QR code or just visually compare the 60-digit number. If they match, it's a guarantee that no one is intercepting your texts (or calls!). 9 Your WhatsApp has a special key verification feature to help you make sure that your texts aren't being intercepted Credit: The Sun / WhatsApp 5 – MYSTERIOUS SPY APPS Every so often, take a look at your recently installed apps. Notice anything strange? Anything that shouldn't be there? Any apps that you don't recognise? That's a major red flag. Unexpected apps that you don't recognise are a serious sign that someone is meddling with you. It might have been installed by someone close to you (maybe they grabbed your phone while you slept) or installed on your device as part of a hack attack (perhaps you clicked a dodgy link or opened a rogue email). 9 Make sure to check your phone for any strange apps Credit: Apple 9 Scroll to the far-right on your iPhone to find the App Library – apps may appear here that don't show up on your Home Screen Credit: Apple Either way, once a "spyware" app is on your phone, hackers can run riot with their surveillance. And don't be fooled by how the app appears: it might pretend to be a regular app with a normal function, but it is actually spying on you. So even if it looks like a calculator and works like a calculator, it might still be spying. The only warning sign is that you didn't install it. That's never right. If you ever find any app that you don't recall installing, delete it right away. It could be tracking every single text you send – and potentially much more. 6 – UNEXPLAINED TEXTS This sign can come in two forms. The first is when you receive texts from family members that don't seem to make sense or flow from your previous conversation. Maybe they're having a mad day. But more likely, someone has broken into your text conversations. What this usually means is that someone is texting your friends and family as you – and then deleting the evidence. 9 Watch out for texts with strange letters and symbols Credit: The Sun / Apple So when you look at your phone, there's nothing there. But you're catching it out because your friend or family member has replied to a text – and you've seen it before the snooper has deleted it. Check in with that person immediately (and not over text!) to ask them about what conversations you've had recently. Chances are, they've received texts from you offering them a lucrative money-making deal, asking for a bit of quick cash, or requesting some security info (like a log-in code for an app). It's best to do this over the phone, or better yet in person – so you can make sure your conversation isn't being meddled with. The second sign to watch for is when a text contains strange strings of letters, numbers, and symbols. This might be a symptom of some spyware installed on your phone. Spyware – software built to watch what you're doing – isn't meant to be there, and can result in bugs. KEEP YOUR PHONE UPDATED Here's another tip from The Sun's tech expert If you want another easy way to protect yourself from dangerous attacks, just update your phone. It sounds simple, but plenty of people forget about it. Tech giants spend loads of money uncovering dangerous loopholes that hackers can exploit to break into your phone. And they release these as security fixes via updates for your phone and apps. If you don't download them, you're leaving your gadgets wide open to snooping. What to watch: If you've got a very old phone, it might no longer be supported by the creator. That means it's no longer getting software updates. So if you're finding yourself unable to update your phone, you may have been cut off. That means you won't get the latest software updates to fix security bugs, leaving you in serious cyber-danger. If that's the case, you'll want to upgrade to a newer model as soon as possible. It's not worth the risk. Picture Credit: Apple / The Sun This can sometimes manifest as strange strings of text (including coded instructions meant for a computer) that don't make sense to your human eyes. It's not a guarantee that you're being spied on, but it's definitely a sign that something is amiss. Just like before, look for and delete any mysterious apps on your device that you don't remember installing, update your phone's software, and reboot it completely (to wipe any 'active' hacks that live in your phone's short-term memory).
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- The Irish Sun
iPhones hit by email chaos as major app freezes and crashes ‘driving users crazy' – hidden button instantly fixes it
IPHONE users have complained that a mysterious bug is blocking them from accessing their emails. Numerous people have reported that Apple's Mail app is crashing and freezing. 1 Some say they're left with a blank screen when trying to access their email Credit: Getty It's thought that the issue may be affecting some iPhone devices with iOS 18.5 installed. "My mail app is refusing to load anything and just shows a white blank screen," one person wrote on Reddit. "I have been having this issue all day. Very frustrating!" another commented. "This has been happening for a few days now and it's driving me crazy," a third yelled. Read more about Apple Apple's own service status page doesn't show any problems being investigated currently. There are some workarounds - though it only appears to work temporary and success is mixed. Some say simply restarting their iPhone helped for a bit. Others have had said disabling their iCloud account in the Mail settings worked. Most read in Tech However, this will mean that you can't access iCloud Mail on your device. For the time being, it might be better to wait and access your emails manually online via your web browser. If you have an iCloud Mail account, just go to For those who have other email accounts and want to try disabling their iCloud Mail from the app for now, go to Settings > Apps > Mail > Mail Accounts. Just remember you'll need to add it back again after if you rely on iCloud Mail. iPhone tricks to try today Here are some of the best... Typing cursor – When typing, hold down the space bar to turn your keyboard into a trackpad, letting you move around words and sentences more easily Close all Safari tabs – To do this in one go, simply hold the overlapped squares in the bottom right-hand corner, and press close all tabs Delete lots of photos quickly – Hold down on a photo and then drag your finger diagonally in Photos to select lots of images at once, then hit delete Convert currency quickly – Swipe down from the top of your Home screen (or swipe left to right on an iPhone X or later model), then tap in the bar and type a currency (like $200) and it will automatically covert to your local currency Check if you're due a battery upgrade – Batteries inside smartphones degrade over time. Just go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health, and check out the Maximum Capacity reading. Generally a battery is considered worn when you're down to 80% capacity. If you're below, you can buy a battery swap from Apple Move apps around faster – Hold an app until it starts wiggling, then (while still holding) tap other apps, causing them to stack so you can move them around easier
