Items tagged with security
Computer security has always been somewhat of a hot topic, though it has intensified in recent weeks in the wake of the global WannaCry ransomware outbreak. In response, Microsoft has issued a series of updates to Windows, including legacy versions no longer supported such as Windows XP and Windows Vista. Microsoft...
Read more...
WikiLeaks has published secret documents belonging to the United States government that reveal the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been building and maintaining cyber tools designed to compromise wireless routers. These tools are the work of the CIA's hacking unit called Engineering Development Group. Among them...
Read more...
The notion that Mac systems are immune to malware is just plain wrong. Sure, Macs might be less susceptible to malware than Windows-based PCs, but they are certainly not exempt from security threats. Proving otherwise, two different security outfits have put out warnings about separate threats targeting Mac users. One...
Read more...
Microsoft is not wavering on its decision to stop supporting Windows XP as a whole, though apparently it will on occasion release security updates for the legacy operating system, presumably for the greater good. We saw this just last month when Microsoft patched Windows XP to protect users against the WannaCry...
Read more...
Most wireless routers are equipped with a series of LEDs to indicate things like network connectivity and activity, though if a router has been compromised with malware, those blinking lights could reveal more than the owner bargained for. Using specially crafted malware, an attacker could instruct those LEDs to...
Read more...
The nasty WannaCry outbreak has us all a little bit on edge. It also serves as a sobering reminder that a simple phishing scam can still create quite a bit of havoc. Sure, savvy PC users know better than to click on mysterious URLs in emails and instant messages, but for the bad guys, it's simply a numbers game—throw...
Read more...
In a perfect world, we would not have to worry about intruders breaking into our homes and pilfering our belongings. Of course, we do not live in such a world, and the sad reality is that burglars and thieves exist. Fortunately there are home security products that make life tough for the bad guys. One of them is the...
Read more...
Now that the dust has settled on a global ransomware outbreak that could have been much worse than it ended up being, we can all breathe a sigh of relieve. Meanwhile, security outfits are busy analyzing the outbreak to uncover as much information as possible about the threat known as WannaCry. According to Symantec's...
Read more...
The Wanna Decrypter ransomware that began floating around the Internet late last week, or WannCry as it's commonly known, has made a lasting impact, with hundreds of thousands of PCs worldwide being affected. What the malware does is even more alarming: one minute, you're using your computer normally; the next, your...
Read more...
We took part in an interesting demo this week that was both eye-opening and somewhat alarming. We met with representatives from Synaptics to discuss what we thought would be its latest sensor technology or HCI device, but were treated to a real-world hacking display that would leave most people slack-jawed. Why, you...
Read more...
The Internet community was able to breathe a temporary sigh of relief after a 22-year-old security researcher accidentally discovered a way to thwart WannaCrypt, a fast-spreading strain of malware that was stolen from the National Security Agency. After reaching tens of thousands of systems in over 70 countries within...
Read more...
Last fall, we reported on a somewhat humorous report of a mere "reply all" email that managed to bring down email servers of the UK's National Health Service. Unfortunately, we have something a bit more severe to report on today: an all-out cyberattack against the NHS.
At some point today, doctors at NHS had to...
Read more...
A vulnerability researcher at Google is giving props to Microsoft for issuing a quick fix to what he described as a "crazy bad" remote code exploit in the company's malware protection engine. He also said it was the worst of its kind in recent memory, and that is because prior to the patch, a remote attacker could...
Read more...
Intel last week finally got around to plugging a security hole that existed for decades affecting platforms with Active Management Technology (AMT), Intel Standard Manageability (ISM), and Small Business Technology (SBT). Consumer systems were untouched by this bug, but otherwise systems dating all the way back to...
Read more...
Some things are better late than never, right? Chicago Cubs fans who watched their team win the World Series last year can certainly attest to that, but it does not only apply to sports. Case in point, Intel has finally plugged a security hole that affects every Intel platform with Active Management Technology (AMT)...
Read more...
Windows 95 is alive and well in the United States Pentagon. Daryl Haegley, program manager for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment reported at an event hosted by OSIsoft that 75% of the Department of Defense computers Windows XP or older (including Windows 98 and...
Read more...
We can't seem to go a single week without news of a severe vulnerability out there in the wild, and it looks like our streak isn't about to end. Not too long ago, a number of NSA-derived tools were released online, giving us an idea of how desperate the folks at one of the US government's leading intelligence agencies...
Read more...
In 2013, security research firm DefenseCode revealed a major issue that plagued a large number of wireless routers, and because the number of affected devices was in the millions, the company held off on revealing the specifics. Fast-forward four years to the present day, and those details have finally been...
Read more...
If you're using Google's Chrome browser as your primary vehicle to surf the web, you may want to think about temporarily parking it and puttering around in something else. That's because the most recent version of Chrome is vulnerable to a devious phishing attack, one that is capable of spoofing a legitimate website...
Read more...
In less than a month from now Microsoft will stop dishing out security updates for the original version of Windows 10 (build 1507) that was released back in July 2015. Microsoft had actually planned to stop supporting Windows 10 Version 1507 on March 26, 2017, but later decided to push back its end of servicing date...
Read more...
Microsoft made headlines early last year when it announced that users of Intel Skylake (and newer) processors, would need to run Windows 10, as support would be dropped on older versions of Windows. After that initial announcement, there wasn't much additional news related to the story. That is until last fall, when...
Read more...
As always, be wary of opening email attachments, especially from untrusted sources. Security outfits FireEye and McAfee have both observed malicious Microsoft Office RTF documents in the wild that are exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft Windows and Office that has not yet been patched. The samples...
Read more...
