Items tagged with security
Another day, another disclosure of a new side-channel exploit affecting modern PC processors. This time around, we're talking about ZombieLoad, which takes advantage of vulnerabilities specific to Intel processors.
At its heart, ZombieLoad is reminiscent of Meltdown, Spectre and Foreshadow, which we have all...
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WhatsApp, a Facebook property, has issued a warning to users of its app and is asking users to upgrade to the latest version of the app. Reports surfaced this week that a company based in Israel has been able to successfully install malware that could listen in on phone calls made via WhatsApp. While WhatsApp...
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There are two main trains of thought when it comes to updating drivers. One is to always install them right away to ensure you are protected from the latest threats, and that everything is working as intended. The second is to wait a bit to make sure there are not any unintended side effects, like sending your system...
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If you try to market a product as “unhackable,” it stands to reason that someone is going to attempt to hack your device to knock you down a peg or two. That is exactly what happened with eyeDisk, which was first brought to light last year with a successful Kickstarter campaign.
eyeDisk was able to raise over...
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Mozilla this week offered an apology to Firefox users over for temporarily breaking add-ons last weekend, and then issuing a temporary fix that collected telemetry data. Simply put, Mozilla admits it "failed" its users. That said, the company says it has a permanent fix in place, and promises to delete usage data that...
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Where is Neo when you need him? We don't have an answer for that, but Morpheus has been making an appearance on some business PCs, just not in the manner you might think. His mug is part of a message that is delivered by a new ransomware strain called "MegaCortex," which is a misspelled reference to MetaCortex, the...
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Microsoft is hard at work on its new Chromium-based browser and delivered its first Chromium-based browser test build about a month ago. However, a big issue with the Chromium-based browsers has been discovered on Windows 10, and it can seriously impeded performance. The issues was brought to light by browser maker...
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A widely used banking Trojan that has been wreaking havoc in the wild for over a decade has developed a new ability. Called Qakbot (or Qbot for short), the Trojan has been found to be using an updated persistence mechanism that can make it more difficult for users to detect and subsequently remove from infected...
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Government intelligence agencies in the United States have held firm that Huawei's products present a security risk and could be used as conduits of sensitive information to China. Huawei has repeatedly denied the claims, but is there any truth to it? Well, as an interesting twist to the situation, it's being reported...
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Fraudulent apps on the Google Play store are a huge problem for Android users. Some of the fraudulent apps aim to steal money and other information. In February this year, word surfaced that a cryptocurrency-stealing malware had been found on Google Play, while malware-laden game apps were found last November that...
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In an ongoing effort to stay one step ahead of the bad guys (or at least keep pace with them), Google has decided to block sign-ins from embedded browser frameworks, such as the Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF). The new policy will go into effect in June, so developers have a couple of months to adjust.
This is...
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Few things are more annoying than when a Windows update wreaks havoc on your system. It's a case of the cure being worse than the disease, as Ray Stevens sang about in his comical song "Doctor Doctor (Have Mercy On Me)." We saw this play out recently when it was reported that a Patch Tuesday roll out was causing boot...
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It turns out that a security breach affecting some users of Microsoft's Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, and MSN.com webmail services is worse than originally thought. In an email that was previously sent to users, Microsoft said a hacker managed to swipe a support agent's login credentials, potentially exposing email...
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Even for the more freaky among you, avoiding "The Nasty List" on Instagram is in your best interest. We are not being prudes, by any means—go ahead and let your freak flag fly, if that is what you are all about. However, this so-called list we are referring to is actually a phishing scam that seeing people's accounts get hacked.
If you
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As if Microsoft’s Skype security exploit back in February wasn’t alarming enough, users of the company’s Outlook.com, MSN.com and Hotmail.com webmail services may have something to worry about now as well. Microsoft has confirmed to a number of sources, and according to users on reddit with specific documentation, that hackers compromised
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Amazon is doing very well in the booming smart speaker market with its popular Alexa-powered line of Echo devices. Amazon had moved 100 million Alexa devices as of January 2019, and as speakers gain popularity, more issues are arising that consumers should be aware of.
A new report claims that Amazon has thousands...
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Reason number one not to leave your electronic gadgets within unsupervised reach of a toddler is because, at best, they'll turn into a sticky mess. At worst, however, they will find a way to break it. Reason number two is because they might lock you out of the device...for five decades! We are not being facetious...
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At a cursory glance, it may seem like cryptocurrency mining is firmly in the rear view mirror, along with all of the unwanted side effects (GPU shortages, browser hijacking, and so forth), but not so fast. Bitcoin and other virtual currencies have seen a sharp rise in recent weeks. Does that mean we have to worry...
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One of the hallmark features of Samsung’s new Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+and Galaxy S10 5Gsmartphones are their use of in-display ultrasonic fingerprint readers. These newfangled sensors replace the tried and true optical fingerprint sensors that have been positioned on the backs of Samsung flagships for the past few...
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CT scans are essential tools that help medical practitioners detect various medical conditions. Healthcare providers rely on the accuracy of these technologies, because a misdiagnosis could prove fatal. Unfortunately, this vital technology is vulnerable to hackers. Researchers recently designed malware that can add or...
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Facebook has one of the worst reputations for privacy and security of personal information in the entire tech industry. It admitted last month that the passwords of up to 600 million users had been stored in plain text and were accessible to 20,000 employees. The company is facing a criminal investigation over sharing...
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The day of reckoning has arrived for the Google+ social network. Like scores of Google apps and services that have come before it, Google+ never quite achieved the critical success and adoption as originally envisioned. In the case of Google+, a 2018 security breach simply escalated the inevitable.
As outlined in...
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