Items tagged with security
Here we go again. This past November, the US' Department of Justice latched onto public heartstrings by saying that encryption on mobile phones could lead to the death of children, and in January, president Obama followed-up to plainly say that encryption should under no circumstance hinder police and spy...
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It's not often that we learn of a DDoS attack that can be sourced from mobile devices, but as it happens, it's something that's possible on iOS devices not running the latest 8.3 software.
The bug isn't exclusive to iOS, however. Because the 'Darwin Nuke' flaw exists in the Darwin kernel, the desktop OS X is also...
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A 14-year-old from Florida's Pasco County has learned the hard way that gaining unauthorized access to someone else's computer - no matter how easily it's accomplished - is a major offense.
While media reports not surprisingly jump to the claim of "hacking", access was gained via a known password - the teacher's...
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We reported a couple of weeks ago that GitHub was hit with a massive DDoS attack, and given the projects that were targeted; it was widely assumed that China was behind the attack. Now, there's even more evidence of that, and it appears that a brand-new weapon was used to carry the attack out.
According to a report...
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When is it fair to deem a botnet "complex"? Well, I think it's fair to label it as such when it requires a collection of cybercrime fighters from the US and Europe to ultimately give it its final blow.
Here's some context: "On 8 April, Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) and the Joint Cybercrime Action...
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If there's one thing that's beaten into the head of every computer user, it's to implement a data backup scheme. Like, right now. It's sound advice, but depending on how and where you backup your data, you could be exposing more about yourself than you care to share. Just think for a moment about the contents of your...
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If you own an LG ultrawide display and installed its included split screen software, you should take note. According to a user report, installing this software will disable the User Account Control security feature in Windows without your consent. You're not even bound to notice right away because of its...
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What value would you put on your personal information, such as your social security number? To me, that kind of information is invaluable, because in the wrong hands, your life can be made a living hell. But according to FCC, that information is worth about $90, based on the fact that it's just fined AT&T $25 million...
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The latest version of Firefox came out at the end of March and brought a lot to the table, although like most browser version jumps nowadays, spotting all of what's new can be difficult. At the forefront, Firefox 37 introduced a "heartbeat" user rating system, which helps you provide useful feedback to Mozilla, and...
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Slack, the fast-growing startup previously known as Tiny Speck, has rolled out an optional two-factor authentication feature in response to a recent hacker attack. The company confirmed there was unauthorized access to its database containing user profile information, and though it was quick to respond and made...
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Whenever a software flaw is discovered and is then patched, it's not often that we'll ever hear about it again (the exceptions are those that do big damage). It's even more rare when we end up hearing about a "medium" bug again four years later. Such is the case of a vulnerability affecting Adobe Flash (don't act...
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It's always fun to see which security flaws get exploited at Pwn2Own, and this year's event has proven to be no exception. In fact, it could be considered to be one of the most exciting events to date, with JungHoon Lee exploiting three major browsers, and securing a record $110,000 payout for one of the...
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In case you were of the mind that airport travel wasn't a big enough pain as is, there's some good news to relay. If you'll be passing through Washington, DC's Dulles airport soon, you can plan on adding a new step to the routine.
As part of a “test”, those coming back to the U.S. through Dulles may be chosen to...
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Smartphone security is a double-edged sword. If you're lax with security and leave your phone unlocked all the time, you're inviting mischief. And if you lock it down with a passcode or some other method, you'll have to unlock it each time you use it. Or do you? Turns out Google's working on a new Smart Lock mode that...
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Target has reportedly reached a settlement agreement in which it will pony up $10 million as compensation to victims of a massive security breach in 2013. The proposed settlement has to be approved by a federal district court judge, and if it is, individual victims of the data breach could receive up to $10,000 in...
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IBM's X-Force Application Security Research Team has discovered a severe bug that plagues the Dropbox SDK on Android, which apps can use to interact with the cloud storage service. Dubbed 'DroppedIn', unauthorized apps have been able to access a rogue Dropbox account, potentially allowing an attacker to grab data off...
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There's a time and place to get your freak on, unless you're talking about FREAK, the newly discovered encryption flaw that was initially thought to only affected Android and iOS devices. It turns out that the vulnerability also affects all supported releases of Windows. That's the bad news. And the...
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Thanks to the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, we know that the United States government has in place a sophisticated and all-encompassing spying program, and as time goes on, additional details leak out that underscore how little privacy we truly have. Whether it's intercepting Skype communications or tampering...
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Another week, another breach-related arrest. In Britain, an unnamed 23-year-old man was arrested for being tied to a cyberattack that took place against the US' Department of Defense last June, though the DoD stresses that no data taken affects national security.
The man is accused of accessing DoD systems...
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There have been many stories to come out of the US over the past couple of years that have related to law enforcement requests of personal passwords, and now, it looks like Canada wants to get in on the action.
This past week, traveler Alain Philippon was returning to the Great White North from the Dominican...
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uTorrent might still be one of the -- if not the -- most popular BitTorrent clients in the world, but that doesn't mean that it's one that everyone is happy with. In recent years, the software has suffered the fate of so many others: It was awesome in the beginning -- lightweight and stable -- but over time grew...
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Bad news, Windows users. Remember that old bit of code that was causing new headaches for iOS and Android device owners? Dubbed "FREAK," it was initially thought that the exploit only affected some mobile browsers, but that's no longer the case. Microsoft has issued a security advisory (3046015) warning that FREAK...
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