Items tagged with security
Earlier this week, we learned of a scary piece of malware that can strike almost all Android devices in use. As has become a theme of late, the exploit is trigged via a simple text message. While it's easy to assume that you'll be safe simply by not reading any unsolicited text messages from people you don't know...
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Remember when getting hacked meant loss of control of your PC and/or stolen data? It could be embarrassing, sure, and you could even be fired if a weak password contributed to the theft of sensitive company information. However, more recent hacks of shown a frightening trend towards causing physical harm.
Earlier...
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We reported earlier this week that a Jeep Cherokee could be remotely accessed and controlled, and I wouldn't blame anyone for being a skeptic. After all, what are the chances of someone remote being able to disable the transmission? Well, with Fiat Chrysler's response, I think that question has been answered.
In a...
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Is there anything scarier than the thought of a hacker remotely taking control of your vehicle's steering and braking functions as you barrel down the highway? Well sure, being eaten alive by flesh eating zombies like an episode of The Walking Dead would cause most people to soil their undergarments, but losing...
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Microsoft is plugging a security hole with a new Critical-rated security update. The patch will fix an issue in Windows and OpenType fonts that could expose users to malicious website content. So long as you have automatic updates enabled, your PC will download and install the patch, if it hasn’t already.
“This...
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Over the past five years, where the bulk of Microsoft's revenue comes from has skewed quite a bit. As the company begins to transition its Windows OS to become a "service" (and not to mention, largely giving it away for free up-front) and deal with other products that are suffering decreased revenue, the company has...
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Two months after dating website AdultFriendFinder was breached and had its info leaked, the exact same thing is happening to a trio of websites belonging to Avid Life Media, including AshleyMadison. If all of the information stolen does in fact get leaked, it won't bode well for its members.
AshleyMadison is a...
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To quote the Guinness brothers, rewarding security researchers with frequent flier miles in exchange for rooting out system bugs is "brilliant!" That's what United Airlines is doing, and it's already given out two of its highest awards available -- one million miles -- which is enough to redeem for dozens of domestic...
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Has the time come to put Adobe's Flash Player plugin out of our misery? Facebook CSO Alex Stamos thinks so. In a series of Twitter posts, Stamos makes a plea for Adobe to set a date to euthanize Flash, allowing the web and Internet users at large to move on to better (and more secure) technologies. The question is...
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Whether you use Snapchat to send goofy faces to friends and family, or fling more sultry looking photos to a lover, you probably don't want those snapshots falling into the wrong hands. Unfortunately for users in the United Kingdom, new legislation could force messaging applications to be less secure so the government...
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In the wake of recent security threats that have come to light, Mozilla has made the decision to block Adobe Flash content by default on all versions of its Firefox browser. Mark Schmidt, head of Firefox support at Mozilla and CEO of SupportHacker, announced the change via Twitter on Monday, adding that this is a...
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We reported last week on a new zero-day vulnerability in Adobe Flash that was revealed following the leak of data from the Italian hacking group "Hacking Team". It's hardly a surprise when such a vulnerability is found in either Flash or Java, and as sad as it is, it's not even surprising to learn that two more have...
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To quote Ron Burgundy in Anchorman, "Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean that really got out of hand fast." He was referring to a deadly and chaotic showdown between various news stations, but he could have just as easily been talking about a recent security breach at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM)...
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Be careful what you post in jest on social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and even YouTube, lest the U.S. government labels you as a potential terrorist threat. It's the online world we live in these days, and in an effort to thwart the bad guys (and gals) before they can do harm, a new bill would encourage...
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A teenage member of the notorious hacking group Lizard Squad has received a two-year suspended sentence for numerous cyber crimes. All tallied, he was convicted of 50,700 charges related to computer crimes, and in addition to his two-year suspended sentence, he must also undergo monitoring of his online activities. He...
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This week, something nearly as common as breathing happened: a severe Adobe Flash vulnerability was revealed. How this one came to be, however, is far more interesting than most. Earlier this week, a well-known Italian hacking group called 'Hacking Team' was itself hacked. On Monday, the group's Twitter account was...
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The developers behind the uber-popular Plex media center software have revealed that their databases have been breached, and of course, that means just one thing: you might have a password or two to change.
In an email sent to affected users, Plex developers note that only its forum and blog were compromised, and...
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Microsoft's Windows 10 Mobile looks to be a tremendous upgrade over the previous version (the same could be said about the desktop versions as well), and features like "Wi-Fi Sense" could help set it apart from the rest. But, as cool as the feature is, it could become a breeding ground for exploitation.
Wi-Fi...
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A new device from an MIT alumnus will soon be helping police assess dangerous situations from a safe distance. The softball-sized explorer triggers its six cameras when tossed into a room. It then sends the images back to police, where they are rapidly stitched into a panoramic image for tactical assessment. The...
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Maybe someday the Chinese government will take a page from O.J. Simpson and write a book titled, "If I Did It: Confessions of a Hacker." After all, China is clinging to the innocence card just as adamantly as Simpson, never mind any evidence to the contrary. In fact, not only is the Chinese government saying it's not...
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Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed a tool for stealing decryption keys from laptops. What sets the tool apart from other hacking tools is that it is untethered: it doesn’t need to connect to the target laptop (nor a hacker’s laptop) to operate. And, it’s small. As researchers point out, it could even be hidden in pita bread.
The
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Windows XP enjoyed a nice, long run, but after over a decade of faithful service, Microsoft finally pulled the plug on the legacy operating system and discontinued support in April of last year. All but the most diehard fans have since moved on, though it's still installed on more desktops than Windows 8.1, and on...
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