Items tagged with security
A security firm is warning of a new botnet targeting IoT (Internet of Things) devices that is on the move. Dubbed IoT_reaper, the new botnet borrows some of the source code from Mirai, which took down the popular security blog KrebsOnSecurity with a massive DDoS attack, ultimately forcing Brian Krebs, the security...
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Google knows that exploits make it through the app development process and could be lurking in some of the most popular apps on the Google Play Store, waiting for a nefarious hacker to take advantage. To help weed out these vulnerabilities, Google has launched the Google Play Security Reward Program. Developers of...
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Google has announced a new program for those who are most vulnerable to targeted attacks on via its services. Google says that the Advanced Protection Program is aimed directly at journalists, business leaders, and political campaign teams. Advanced Protection Program gives these users a physical Security Key...
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Hacking happens all the time, and when it affects a large number of people, companies typically disclose the breach. Not always, of course, sometimes not even in a timely manner. As it pertains to Microsoft, something a little different occurred several years ago. Several former employees say a sophisticated hacking...
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This morning we talked about a researcher from KU Leuven University in Belgium who had discovered a major security vulnerability in the WiFi Protected Access II (WPA2) protocol that is used to secure wireless internet traffic. That vulnerability could be used to allow a nefarious attacker to glean confidential details...
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Cybercriminals have developed a new form of Android ransomware that gives victims added incentive to pay up. In addition to scrambling the user's data with an AES encryption algorithm, the new ransomware replaces an infected device's personal identification number (PIN) with one that is randomly generated, effectively...
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A security expert at Belgian university KU Leuven has discovered a major vulnerability in the Wi-Fi Protected Access II (WPA2) protocol that could a expose a user's wireless Internet traffic, including usernames and passwords that are entered into secure websites. The vulnerability affects most devices and several...
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All statistics are notable in their own right, but once in a while, one comes along that seems downright mind-boggling. Take this one: 500 million people are currently affected by unauthorized cryptocurrency mining. Remember when pop-up ads were the biggest offense? That's child's play. If you run into a website...
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After an almost mind-boggling number of security and privacy issues that have deluged into our lives over the past handful of years, you'd think that companies would begin to take their customers' private data seriously. Still, there are some who just don't seem to "get it", and apparently, OnePlus has proven to be...
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Late last year a hack was perpetrated on what is called a "partner organization" that worked with the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD). The unnamed organization notified the ASD that it was hacked in November of 2016, and that outside parties gained access to its network. The small organization has only 50...
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A software engineer has discovered that OnePlus is actively collecting certain data on its users without their knowledge or permission. Chris Moore, owner of a UK-based security and tech blog and a finalist at Cyber Security Challenge UK, published an article detailing the Chinese electronic company's data collection...
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Do you know what hackers were doing around this time five years ago? They were breaking into a database at Disqus, the popular blog comment hosting service supported by scores of websites, in many cases in place of traditional web forums (remember those?). Disqus only found out about it this past Thursday and began...
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Back in 2013, Yahoo's database was breached by hackers and it wasn't discovered or reported until 2016. When that reporting happened last year, Yahoo thought that detials on 1 billion of its user accounts had been stolen. As it turns out, things are much worse than Yahoo (now owned by Verizon and part of Oath)...
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Around two years ago, researchers discovered serious firmware vulnerabilities in Mac laptops and desktops, and then developed a proof-of-concept worm to demonstrate how potentially damaging they could be. Since then, Apple has been pretty good about including EFI (extensible firmware interface) updates with its macOS...
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Well this is unsettling news—a security researcher has discovered a bug in Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser that allows remote hackers to view anything and everything you type in the address bar, including web addresses, search terms, and any other text. If you are still using IE as your browser of choice, be...
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It used to be that Macs were thought to be nearly immune to malware, viruses, and serious security issues. That certainly isn't the case with modern Macs because as the user base has grown, the amount of malware and viruses targeting the platform has also grown. Back in June, we talked about malware-as-a-service...
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Researchers have still been working their way through the hack that resulted in the very popular CCleaner security app being used as a host for malware. The initial attack was thought by many to have caused minimal harm to computer systems that were infected, but it looks like there was a secondary attack that may be...
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Equifax may be now getting its public lashings for a cybersecurity breach that resulted in personal information of 143 million Americans being exposed to hackers, but it appears that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has a few skeletons in its closet as well.
The regulatory agencies announced late last...
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Companies the world over give IT admins access to some of their most sensitive information. This is the kind of information that if lost, damaged, or stolen would lead to lost money and business for the company. An Arizona man name Tavis Tso has entered into a plea deal resulting from his actions where he took the...
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If you have a normal security system at your home or office, you know what a hassle they can sometimes be. If you are the sort who never seems to remember the passcode or feels rushed when you arm the system and then have only 30 seconds or so to get out, you know a normal security system isn't ideal. Nest has a new...
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TrendMicro has published a report that claims that a "sizable" spam campaign is underway and other than just having a bunch of unwanted email to contend with, the spam campaign is also pushing ransomware. The spam campaign is said to be distributing the latest variant of Locky, which is the ransomware that invaded...
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Users of the popular CCleaner program by Piriform are being advised to update the application after researchers at Cisco's Talos division discovered hackers had hidden malware inside. The contaminated utility served as a beacon call for additional forms of malware—using a backdoor, an attacker could run code from a...
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