Martin Brinkmann

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

Google Chrome's Password Manager is getting these new features

Google revealed plans some time ago to improve the built-in password manager of its Chrome web browser. Today, Google unveiled five new features for the password manager that are either already available […]

Report: Amazon considering adding Ads to Prime Video

Amazon is considering integrating advertisement into its Prime Video service, according to a Wallstreet Journal report. Amazon might introduce a new ad-powered tier to Prime Video or introduce advertisement to the current […]

You can now access Bing Chat in Vivaldi 6.1

Vivaldi Technologies has released Vivaldi 6.1, a new stable version of the company's Chromium-based web browser, to the public. Vivaldi is a highly customizable web browser, probably the most customizable browser with […]

Vivaldi Web Browser Review

The first stable version of Vivaldi, a new web browser by Vivaldi Technologies, was released on April 6, 2016 to the public. The web browser, launched by Opera co-founder John von Tetzchner's […]

Google patches exploited security issue in Chrome: update asap

Google has released an update for Chromium and Google Chrome that addresses a security issue in the web browser that is exploited in the wild. Exploited in the wild means that Google […]

Google unlocks passkeys support for Workspace

After having enabled passkeys support for personal Google accounts last month, Google has now unlocked support for passkeys for Workspace customers and environments. Passkeys is an upcoming authentication standard that replaces traditional […]

Firefox 114 updates security and improves DNS over HTTPS accessibility

Firefox 114.0 and Firefox 102.12.0 ESR are the June 2023 releases of Mozilla's Firefox web browser. Official release date is June 6, 2023. The new version of Firefox is a security update, […]

How to disable Firefox's Search Terms in the address bar feature

Firefox users who run searches from the browser's address bar may have noticed that the browser displays the entered search term and not the address of the search engine on the search […]

75 million Chrome users have installed these malicious extensions

Google has removed more than two dozen malicious Chrome extensions from the official Chrome Web Store. These extensions were installed on over 75 million times by Chrome user, who need to become […]

PicPick 7.2 screenshot tool adds Window Capture mode

NGWIN, the company behind the popular screen capturing tool PicPick for Microsoft Windows devices, has released PicPick 7.2.0 to the public. The latest version is available as a manual update for home […]

Bing Chat support is rolling out to non-Microsoft browsers

Microsoft is in the process of rolling out Bing Chat support for non-Microsoft browsers. Interested users who try to access Bing Chat in another web browser currently, e.g., Google Chrome or Mozilla […]

KeePass password manager update improves security

Dominik Reichl, the lead developer of the KeePass password manager, has released KeePass 2.54 to the public. The new version of the application improves security in several meaningful ways, and it addresses […]

Cortana's Windows chapter ends later this year

Microsoft announced this week that it will end support for Cortana in Windows later in 2023. The terminus affects the Cortana application for Windows, which Microsoft plans to retire in "late 2023". […]

Microsoft Edge 114 Stable update with (limited) Workspaces feature launches

Microsoft has released a new stable version of its Microsoft Edge web browser. Microsoft Edge 114 Stable is the latest version; it is a security and feature update for the web browser. […]

Windows 11 Development: overview of the May 2023 changes

Microsoft continued the development of the different Insider versions of the Windows 11 operating system in the month of May. The company maintains four developer channels right now: release preview, beta, developer […]

Windows 11's Get Help support app is showing ads as well now

Windows 11 users who open the official Get Help support application of the operating system may be greeted with an advertisement for Microsoft's Teams application now. The ad is not the first […]

Brave Browser 1.52 adds vertical tabs support

Brave Software released Brave Browser 1.52 yesterday. The new version of the Chromium-based web browser adds support for vertical tabs. Vertical tabs allow users of the browser to move the horizontal tab […]

Critical vulnerability in Gigabyte Motherboards discovered

Millions of PC devices with Gigabyte motherboards are in danger. Researchers at Eclypsium have discovered backdoor-like tools in hundreds of Gigabyte motherboard models. The legitimate tools are used by Gigabyte for updating […]

1Password tightens the thumbscrews for users of the old version of the password manager

Password management service 1Password has deleted the classic browser extensions from the Google Chrome Web Store and Mozilla's Firefox Add-ons repository. The company announced the end of support for the classic browser […]

Google Chrome 114 closes 16 security issues and improves security

Google has released a new version of its web browser today. Google Chrome 114 is the latest stable version of the browser for desktop operating systems and Android. It patches 16 security […]

How to enable the latest features in Microsoft Edge Canary

Whenever Microsoft releases new features in development versions of its Microsoft Edge web browser, it is enabling the features only for part of the userbase. It can sometimes take months before a […]

Mozilla confirms Firefox's end of support for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 systems

Mozilla, maker of the open source Firefox web browser, has confirmed the end of support date of Firefox for the Microsoft operating systems Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 Microsoft ended […]

How to disable stock price information on Windows 11's taskbar

Windows 11's Widget icon is displayed prominently on the Windows 11 taskbar. It is the only icon that is displayed on the left side on the taskbar, while all other icons, including […]

Mullvad VPN ends support for port forwarding

Mullvad VPN is ending support for port forwarding. The organization announced the change on its official blog. Read on to find out why Mullvad has made the decision and what it means […]

Windows Configuration Updates explained

Microsoft released KB5026446 for Windows 11 version 22H2 a few days ago. The official changelog for the Windows update lists just two new features, even though it is also including the features […]

Number of new country code phishing domains dropped significantly thanks to Meta

The number of newly registered country code phishing domains has dropped significantly in the past couple of months thanks to Meta, Facebook's parent company. Most phishing attacks require a website and many […]

Microsoft updates Outlook Stable to include Authenticator functionality

Microsoft previewed Authenticator Lite in its Outlook mobile application last month after having announced the planned feature in March 2o23. Today, Microsoft announced the general availability of the Authenticator functionality in the […]

First look at Brave Browser's upcoming Off The Record feature

Brave Software plans to launch a new privacy feature, called Off The Record, in the upcoming Brave Browser 1.53. Off The Record addresses a very specific use case: it is designed to […]

Windows 11's Get Updates as soon as they're available feature explained

Microsoft introduced a new feature in stable versions of its Windows 11 operating system recently. It is called "Get Updates as soon as they're available" and a new option in the Windows […]

It is getting crowded on the Windows desktop

Widgets, the Edge Bar search field and Microsoft Edge sidebar, and Windows Copilot can all be displayed on the Windows desktop, and that is not even considering other features that Microsoft may […]

Windows is used by over 1 billion users according to Microsoft

It does not happen very often that Microsoft provides information on the number of devices or users of its Windows operating systems or other products. Yesterday was such a day, as Microsoft […]

Amazon deletes tweet endorsing Prime Video account sharing

Netflix is launching tools in more and more countries to prevent the sharing of a Netflix account outside of the primary household. The company launched password sharing restrictions in the United States, […]

HP+ is another reason not to buy HP printers

Is printer ink really more expensive than gold? Original printer ink is without a shadow of a doubt very expensive, and companies like HP or Epson earn a lot of money from […]

Google Authenticator's mysterious security update does not enable end-to-end encryption

Google has released a new update for its Google Authenticator application. The changelog reveals that Google "added device encryption to storage of secret value". Users who have hoped that Google would integrate […]

Mozilla showed VPN ads in Firefox before suspending them

Some Mozilla Firefox users have received popup advertisement in the browser recently. Mozilla used the ad to promote its own Mozilla VPN service to users of the browser. The campaign has now […]

Soon, Windows 11 users will be able to remove the MSN news feed widget

Microsoft Windows 11 users may soon remove the MSN news feed widget from the operating system's Widgets board. Microsoft made the announcement during a keynote speech at its Build 2023 developer conference. […]

Saving or copying may fail on Windows: here is why

Have you tried saving or copying again? That's Microsoft's workaround for a new issue that is plaguing some users of the company's Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems. Microsoft confirmed the […]

KB5026446 for Windows 11 brings new features, but not for everyone

Microsoft has released an update for its Windows 11 operating system, KB5026446, a few hours ago. The preview update includes new features, courtesy of the third Moments update, and lots of fixes. […]

PowerToys 0.70: control 4 PCs with one mouse and keyboard

Remember Mouse without Borders? A Microsoft Garage project that allowed you to control multiple PCs with a single mouse and keyboard set. Launched in 2011, it was a useful software as it […]

Windows 11 may soon restore apps during setup

One of the features that Microsoft's Windows operating system was lacking up until now was an option to restore installed apps on devices during setup. Google's Android operating system, for instance, supports […]