10 tech things we didn't know a week ago

Hackers are increasingly looking to third-party apps, including air-conditioning units and thermostats, to gain full access to internal company networks, according to a report by The New York Times on Monday. The report said: "Break into one system, and you have a chance to break into them all." In many cases, around one-quarter of all data breaches were attributable to negligence on the part of third-party apps and hardware.

The talking-point of the year, "Heartbleed," which in the matter of hours took over the Internet in a sense of panic , after a flaw in a popular cryptography library allowed hackers to snoop on passwords and personal data. The programmer who introduced the flaw denied he inserted it deliberately, after claims were made he may have been working for a US intelligence agency. He denied this, but the flaw nevertheless led to a global security panic. Leading expert Bruce Schneier likened it to a "Spinal Tap 11" out of ten on the severity scale. Change your passwords — and the sooner the better, experts advised.

Android has long been associated with malware issues, according to leading security and research firms . But those capitalizing on the issue this week got a sore slap in the face, after the top grossing app on the Google Play app marketplace was accused of being a "scam." Dubbed "Virus Shield," many thought the app was protecting their Android-based smartphones and tablets, when in fact, according to reports, it was entirely "bogus." The app only cost $3.99, but it was downloaded more than 10,000 times, making the developer very, very rich indeed.

Screenshot: Google Play

If you're concerned about US government surveillance, you might think setting up your own Internet provider might be the best option. Turns out, as the folks at Ars Technica discovered, it's far more complicated to start one than widely thought. Not only do you need millions of dollars, you need a lot of lawyers to navigate the complicated myriad of legal issues that you will face as the head of your own ISP. And that doesn't even take into account the requests you might be forced to undertake if you're under the authority of the National Security Agency. 

Microsoft's .NET development language for years has been within the company's walled garden. But alas — no more. Opening it to the public makes the platform more available for Apple's iOS and Android app makers through its partnership with mobile-tool maker Xamarin. It was touted as "one of the biggest announcements" at Microsoft's annual developer conference, Build, this week. But it took a while to get this far. Former server and cloud boss turned chief executive Satya Nadella gave the go-ahead to make more of .NET open source more than a year ago in order to make it "good for developers."

Samsung's testimony in its trial against Apple showed that the iPhone maker was deeply concerned about the competition — especially in regard to display sizes . While Apple stuck with the 3.5-inch and then 4-inch displays, its competitors — Samsung above all else — was developing far larger screen sizes. This caught Apple in a spin, which internal slides show, citing slowing growth rates and the concern that "consumers want what we don't have." This may be the first sign that Apple could be developing a larger 5-inch iPhone that would aim to compete with its major rivals with "phablet"-sized devices.

The end is no longer nigh. It's right here on our doorstep. Microsoft has cut off Windows XP from its security and update support system. According to the latest statistics from Net Applications, about 44 percent of all desktop Windows machines are still running the decade-old operating system. If you haven't upgraded already, you probably should.

After many users of iOS 7, Apple's latest operating system, complained of battery drain on their iPhones, one Apple expert said that it may be Facebook's app to blame . If users switch off the location-based features of the app, it could help save battery life. According to the expert, Scotty Loveless, he actually saw his iPhone battery meter increase from 12 percent to 17 percent — something he said he had never seen before.

Reuters vs. BlackBerry over whether the company will ditch or sell off its handset business, which for many years was the company's bread and butter. BlackBerry CEO John Chen was quoted in a Reuters interview as saying: "If I cannot make money on handsets, I will not be in the handset business." But he clarified this statement a day later, saying he was speaking hypothetically towards the future . BlackBerry remains "committed" to the handset business, he said in an interview with ZDNet on Thursday.