Martin Brinkmann

martin photo

Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News back in 2005. Martin started his career as a tech support representative at a large German financial corporation which he used to finance his college education in English, Information Technology and History.


He quit college and his job when Ghacks began to attract a large enough readership. He made the decision to become a full time blogger and webmaster, and has not looked back since.


Martin is interested in all things tech. His primary focus is on desktop operating systems, web browsers, Internet services, and privacy related topics.


He published the book The Complete Windows 10 Privacy Guide: Windows 10 Fall Creators Update version in 2017. Martin writes a weekly column for fellow tech site Betanews as well.


You can reach Martin on Facebook or on Twitter. Please use the contact form at the bottom of the page to contact the author directly.


Martin has been quoted or mentioned in many major online and print publications, including Forbes, Lifehacker.com, ComputerWorld, LinkedIn, Reddit, Betanews.com, Bleeping Computer, TechCrunch, PC World, Tom's Hardware, Slashdot, Hacker News, The Register, and more.


Martin's articles on Ghacks

Android chat app malware SafeChat

Mobile Malware attack used Store apps and OCR to steal cryptocurrency recovery codes

Malicious applications that are uploaded to Google's Play Store or Apple's App Store continue to be a problem for users worldwide. Google said that it blocked more than 2.3 million risky Android […]

WinScript: open-source tool to configure and debloat Windows

Plenty of tools exist that give users more control over the Windows operating system. Applications like DoNotSpy11, O&O ShutUp10, or WinAero Tweaker assist users in that task. The latest addition is WinScript, […]

Firefox 135 launches with new translation languages, New Tab layout, security, and privacy improvements

Mozilla will release Firefox 135 to the stable channel today. The release is a big feature and security update that introduces improved protections and capabilities. Highlights include support for translating Korean, Japanese, […]

Windows 11: new AI-powered search for photos on OneDrive launches

Microsoft implemented a backup feature in Windows 11 in the past that is designed to get more user files synced to its OneDrive service. While it is usually not advised to use […]

Why Microsoft doesn't want to talk about Windows 12

This year is very important for Microsoft. It is the year that the most popular Windows operating system, Windows 10, is reaching end of support. It is used by hundreds of millions […]

How to verify Seagate hard drives running hours after used-sold-as-new scandal

A report from the German technology company Heise suggests that some Seagate customers have purchased new hard drives that were used for tens of thousands of hours already. The details:  At least […]

Windows 10 Start Menu will soon display ads for Microsoft 365

Latest Windows 10 update installs new Outlook app automatically

Microsoft released the latest preview update for Windows 10 version 22H2 today. All changes of the preview update will roll out to all Windows 10 devices on Patch Tuesday in February 2025. […]

Bitwarden to enable two-step login for all users in the next days, sort of

Bitwarden is a popular open source password management solution that we have mentioned several times in the past. It is one of our recommended password managers. Bitwarden announced recently that it is […]

What you need to know about DeepSeek AI

Companies and organizations like Nvidia, OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta, Google, or Anthropic have dominated AI news in the past year. This dominance is now challenged by Chinese AI startup DeepSeek and its large […]

Android 16 Beta 1 is out: here is what is new or changing

Google released the first beta version of this year's Android release, Android 16, today. With Android 16 nearing completion, it is a good time to look at the major changes of the […]

Latest Vivaldi Browser update adds more personalization options and new default search engines

The latest version of the Vivaldi web browser is now available. Vivaldi 7.1 adds several personalization options to the browser. It also makes some changes to the default search engines, downloads, and […]

Microsoft adds support for link previews in Word for the web

Microsoft changes account sign-in system to keep users logged in automatically

Microsoft is implementing a significant change to its account authentication system starting February 2025. Under the new system, users stay signed in across sessions unless they sign out explicitly. To better understand […]

VeraCrypt: update drops 32-bit support on Windows and fixes several security issues

The first update of 2025 for the open source encryption software VeraCrypt is now available. VeraCrypt 1.26.18 is a security update that is also introducing a number of fixes and other changes, […]

A look at Firefox's improved Profiles Manager that just launched

Firefox has supported profiles for a very long time. This may come as a surprise to many users, as the visibility of the feature is lacking. Veteran users know that they can […]

Windows 11 Moment 3

This is the simplest option to upgrade Windows 11 on unsupported hardware

Several methods exist to install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware and to upgrade to a new version of Windows 11 from older versions. Microsoft allows this on one hand, but says it […]

Bitwarden Authenticator now lets you import TOTP tokens from other authenticator apps

First Bitwarden password manager update of 2025 improves password auto-fill

Bitwarden is an open source password management solution that we have mentioned and recommended several times here on this site in the past. The developers have released the first major update of […]

Chrome AI Theme

Google Chrome 132 update fixes 16 unique security issues

Google released a new security update for its Chrome web browser that patches 16 unique security issues in the browser. Several of the vulnerabilities affect other Chromium-based web browsers as well, including […]

The Windows security updates for January 2025 are now available

Same procedure as every year. Microsoft released the first batch of security updates of 2025 a moment ago. Security updates are available for all supported client and server versions of Windows and […]

Google allows advertisers to fingerprint you for even better tracking

Google has announced a change to its advertising policies that will allow advertisers to use digital fingerprinting starting February 16, 2025. Why it is important: digital fingerprinting uses signals, like the IP address, […]

Windows 10: New Outlook will be installed automatically, but there is a solution

Microsoft announced this week that it is going to install the new Outlook application on Windows 10 systems automatically.  Windows users and administrators who do not want the app need to make […]

Cookies

Google Chrome: legit EditThisCookie extension removed instead of malicious copycat

EditThisCookie is a specialized extension for Google Chrome that you may use to edit cookie data stored by the browser. I mentioned it back in 2015 here on Ghacks. The extension, with […]

How to rebuild the icon cache in Windows 11

Windows 11 uses the icon cache extensively to display icons of applications and other elements of the operating system. It is designed to speed up the loading and display of icons. Sometimes, […]

How to delete all Google history

How to block Chrome from signing you into a Google account automatically

If you are using Google Chrome, you may have noticed something strange. When you sign-in to a Google service, like Gmail or Google Drive, you get signed-into the browser automatically as well. […]

Find out if an USB device is fake with free ValiDrive app for Windows

Fake USB devices continue to be a problem. These devices claim to have higher storage capacities than they actually have. These devices are sold in many different places: from Chinese online shops […]

Windows 11: issue may prevent further installations of updates

The latest version of Windows 11, version 24H2, has had its fair share of issues already since its release a few months ago. We covered some of them here, for instance the […]

PayPal-owned Honey accused of deceptive practices and more

When PayPal acquired the shopping service and browser extension Honey, many thought that the $4 billion that the company paid was a steep price for the service. Honey has faced its fair […]

In the age of AI, captchas are mostly a burden to humans

Captchas were invented in the early 2000s to tackle an issue on the Internet: bots. Bots were used to quickly snag up auctions on eBay, tickets for a concert or sports event, […]

AdGuard Mail: email alias and temp email service from the makers of the adblocker

AdGuard announced AdGuard Mail today. The new product is free at the time of writing and designed to improve email privacy. It is available as a web-based version as well as apps […]

Microsoft confirms Auto HDR bug in Windows 11 and blocks updates as a consequence

Windows 11, version 24H2 has not been out for long, but its number of issues is already longer than a polonaise at the German carnival. Gamers faced their fair share of issues […]

How to enable or disable Wi-Fi in Windows 11

Wi-Fi is next to Ethernet one of the main ways of connecting a device to the Internet. A PC needs a wireless adapter or chip to support Wi-Fi. The majority of mobile […]

Firefox-maker Mozilla's boosted revenue significantly in 2023, but the financial report may also raise concern

Mozilla has posted its financial report for the year 2023. The organization continues to do well. It had big revenue boost in 2023, but the report may also raise concern. The details: […]

HDMI 2.2 to be unveiled at CES 2025 - requires new HDMI cable

The HDMI Forum plans to unveil HDMI 2.2 officially at a press conference on January 6th, 2025. The organization plans to reveal the new specification of the next-generation of the HDMI standard. […]

The revised Recall on Windows 11 is still recording information that it should not

Recall continues to be a privacy disaster. Reports suggest that the AI feature is recording sensitive information, even with the sensitive information filter enabled. When Microsoft announced Recall, it did so riding […]

How do VPNs work

Mullvad VPN audit: low number of vulnerabilities found and fixed, lots of praise

Mullvad VPN is a popular privacy-focused VPN service. The service is using a disk-less infrastructure and has recently started to run encrypted DNS servers in RAM as well. You may also buy […]

How to restore the full date and time format on Windows 11's taskbar

Microsoft rolled out a change recently on Windows 11 that removed some bits of information from the taskbar. For the date, only day and month are shown, while the year has been […]

Windows 11 version 21H2 and 22H2 will reach end of support in October

Microsoft releases the December 2024 security updates for Windows

Welcome to the last Windows security updates overview of 2024. Microsoft released security updates for Windows, Office, and other company products today. Our monthly guide helps home users and system administrators alike, […]

iVerify: Pegasus spyware infections may be much higher than previously thought

Security experts at iVerify have developed a solution to detect traces of the spyware Pegasus on mobile devices. Pegasus is marketed as a solution to fight terrorism and crime, but governments all […]

Google Chrome will disable third-party tracking cookies for some users in January 2024

Google Search: about the new try without personalization option

Google is rolling out a new feature on Google Search that is adding an option to display search results without any personalization. The feature, which is available on desktop and mobile devices […]

How to enable the old context menu in File Explorer in Windows 11

Windows 11: Microsoft sticks to system requirements, despite sluggish conversion

Microsoft released Windows 11 in 2021 as the successor of Windows 10. Unlike previous Windows systems, Windows 11 came with an updated set of system requirements. Main requirements included a relatively modern […]

How to enable the Ultimate Performance plan in Windows 11

Windows 11 supports several power modes by default. These allow users to customize the power consumption of the device. By default, only a few power modes are available: balanced, power saver, and […]