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
While Google is ending support for classic extensions for more users of its Chrome web browser, several browser makers have pledged continued support for Manifest V2 extensions. Mozilla confirmed in 2023 that […]
Many PayPal users have seen their fair share of phishing emails ever since they signed up for the service. Being a financial service, PayPal is a high value target for criminal organizations. […]
For some time now, Google has been asking for a mobile phone number and verification when new customers create Gmail accounts. SMS verification is also used as part of the login process, […]
Support calls are something that many consumers dread. From long wait times and irritating menu choices to members of support that can't or won't help you, or hang up on you after […]
Windows 11 includes a rather weak backup tool that uses OneDrive to back up some files and preferences. When you set up a new PC, you may restore these backed up files […]
When Microsoft ended support for Windows 7 officially for most users in 2023, it soon thereafter stopped supporting its browser on the operating system. Other companies, including Google, pulled support as well. […]
Mozilla plans to release a point update for its Firefox web browser later today to address security issues and fix several non-security issues in the open source web browser. Firefox 135.0.1 comes […]
Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system reaches end of support in October 2025. This means no updates anymore for the operating system, including security updates. This is a problem for many users, especially […]
Lexmark has published several security warnings about recently disclosed vulnerabilities in Lexmark print software and firmware. Patches are provided and customers are asked to update their devices and software immediately to protect […]
Folders in Windows 11 show a preview of the files they contain when certain folder views are enabled. This is the case for the medium, large, and extra large icon views, as […]
Microsoft has released so many Copilot-Apps and services in the past that it is difficult to keep track of them all. Last year, the company announced that it would split Copilot from […]
The February 2025 security updates for client and server versions of Windows and other Microsoft products are now available. The updates will get installed automatically on most unmanaged Windows devices. Our overview […]
Microsoft confirmed a new Windows 11 issue in late December 2024 that prevented the installation of any new update on affected devices. This issue is now marked as resolved, but Microsoft has […]
Windows users who do not want to use Microsoft Edge have two main options: ignore the web browser as best as they can, or try to uninstall it. Those who consider uninstalling […]
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 […]
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, […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
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 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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
