As privacy concerns grow, companies like Google and Facebook that rely on data collection and advertising for revenue are increasingly in the spotlight. But is it really possible to give up Google’s vast range of services? Here are recommended alternatives. …
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Have you given up on protecting your privacy?
The era of practical quantum computers has begun … “Our machine performed the target computation in 200 seconds, and from measurements in our experiment we determined that it would take the world’s fastest supercomputer 10,000 years to produce a similar output,” Google researchers said in a blog post about the work. …
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What business opportunities will this mean for you?
As a small business owner, I found out that I was the perfect target for cybercriminals when I read certified IT professional Darren Coleman’s book, Easy Prey: How to Protect Your Business from Data Breach, Cybercrime, & Employee Fraud. It inspired me to arm myself with some common sense and the realization that I am responsible for my viral life just as I am for my real life. …
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Amazon, Google fail to address security loopholes in Alexa and Home devices more than a year after first reports. … Neither Amazon nor Google have responded to requests for comment…
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Are you still willing to use these devices?
Two reports published in the last few months show that malware operators are experimenting with using WAV audio files to hide malicious code. … All previous instances where malware used steganography revolved around using image file formats, such as PNG or JPG. The novelty in the two recently-published reports is the use of WAV audio files, not seen abused in malware operations until this year. …
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How are you keeping up with all the latest threats?
The FBI has now warned that it “has observed cyber actors circumventing multi-factor authentication through common social engineering and technical attacks.” … But according to the FBI, this use of secondary tokens or one-time codes to back-up usernames and passwords still isn’t enough. Unless companies employ “biometrics or behavioral information—such as time of day, geolocation, or IP address,” there is a risk that an attack can either trick a user into disclosing a multi-factor authentication code or use technical interception to create one for themselves. …
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The new rules will have significant effects on U.S. business and on privacy norms. There remains, however, considerable confusion over how the law will be enforced, and how much of a burden it will be to U.S. companies. What follows is a plain English explanation of the law, the politics surrounding it, and how it will affect businesses and consumers. What is CCPA and why is it such a big deal?
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In August 2015, the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command, the military’s main cyber arm, were at a crossroads about how to respond to a new terrorist group that had burst on the scene with unrivaled ferocity and violence. The one thing on which everyone seemed to agree is that ISIS had found a way to do something other terrorist organizations had not: It had turned the Web into a weapon. ISIS routinely used encrypted apps, social media and splashy online magazines and videos to spread its message, find recruits and launch attacks. A response to ISIS required a new kind of warfare …
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After discovering evidence of the zero-day, Morphisec reported the issue to Apple, and the OS maker patched it this month. But Michael Gorelik, CTO at MorphiSec, says things aren’t that simple as updating the two Apple apps. Users who used these two apps in the past are also vulnerable. … Sysadmins must scan workstations for the Bonjour component and remove it by hand, or install the latest iTunes…
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Have you patched this?
California proposed regulations on Thursday to dictate how the state will enforce its tough, new privacy law. The law, known as the California Consumer Privacy Act, gives consumers more control over how companies collect and manage their personal data. It goes into effect on Jan. 1. The CCPA, seen as establishing the most stringent data privacy protections in the nation, allows people to request that data be deleted and gives them the opportunity to opt out of having their information sold to a third party. …
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How will this affect your business?
The vast majority of Windows PCs sold in the past four years included Windows 10 licenses, and businesses who have stuck with Windows 7 have typically done so by exercising downgrade rights. They’re free to install Windows 10 anytime, without having to jump through any hoops. On PC’s that were originally sold with older versions of Windows, Microsoft’s calculus is pretty straightforward: It’s in the company’s best interests to see those old Windows versions retired. …
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Still have PC’s running Windows 7?
A new feature in the consumer version of Microsoft’s OneDrive lets you store sensitive files in the cloud with extra encryption and authentication options. But you’ll need an Office 365 subscription for unlimited access. …
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Will you use this new feature?
Imagine you try to log into your bank account one day to setup a payment on your mortgage. You realize that something’s wrong when the bank’s website tells you you’ve entered the wrong password. That’s strange, you think as you click the link to “reset your password.” It’s an easy process, but first, the bank requires that you prove you’re actually you, by sending a simple text message with a six-digit code to the mobile phone number on file. But when you request your code, the text never comes. …
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Are you using your phone for security authentication?
Demant, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of hearing aids, expects to incur losses of up to $95 million following what appears to be a ransomware infection that hit the company at the start of the month. This marks one of the most significant losses caused by a cyber-security incident outside of the NotPetya ransomware outbreak…
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What would it cost your business, if it took weeks to recover?
Today’s data breaches often seem to be caused not just by malware infections or external threat actors, but human error, insiders with an ax to grind, and simple security failures. Some companies will bury their head in the sand, attempting to ignore responsible, private disclosures of data leaks, while others will act rapidly when their information — and reputation — is at stake.
According to new research released Tuesday and conducted by cybersecurity firm McAfee, titled, “Cloud-Native: The Infrastructure-as-a-Service Adoption and Risk,” the majority of IaaS misconfigurations are going unnoticed. …
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Have you tested your cloud service security?
In a little over three months, California will see the widest-sweeping state-wide changes to its privacy law in years. California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) kicks in on January 1 and rolls out sweeping new privacy benefits to the state’s 40 million residents — and every tech company in Silicon Valley. California’s law is similar to Europe’s GDPR. …
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This guide will run through what spyware is, what the warning signs of infection are, and how to remove such pestilence from your mobile devices. …
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Did you find anything on your smartphone?
Simjack exploits a technology residing on the SIM card, the attack also works independently of the user’s device type. “We have observed devices from nearly every manufacturer being successfully targeted to retrieve location: Apple, ZTE, Motorola, Samsung, Google, Huawei, and even IoT devices with SIM cards,” researchers said. The only good news is that the attack doesn’t rely on regular SMS messages…
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Do you suspect that you have been compromised?
Have you been wondering how Google tracks you? What kind of data does it collect? What is this company doing with all that (incredibly personal) data? Well, I’ll do my best to untangle this purposefully-created mess of misleading marketing messages and hard-to-read privacy policies.
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Criminals are using AI-generated audio to impersonate a CEO’s voice and con subordinates into transferring funds to a scammer’s account. … The Wall Street Journal reports that the CEO of an unnamed UK-based energy company thought he was talking on the phone with his boss, the CEO of the German parent company, who’d asked him to urgently transfer €220,000 ($243,000) to a Hungarian supplier. However, the UK CEO was in fact taking instructions from a scammer who’d used AI-powered voice technology to impersonate the German CEO.
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How will you protect yourself from this?
The overall number of reported vulnerabilities in the first half of 2019 has dropped slightly from last year, but risks remain high…
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The challenge: lock down the most exposed part of the nation’s election system. … A ransomware attack in 2020 could prove devastating, preventing voters from registering or poll workers from confirming voter eligibility, officials say.
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Are you concerned with this threat?
Hundreds of dental practice offices in the US have had their computers infected with ransomware this week, ZDNet has learned from a source. The incident is another case of a ransomware gang compromising a software provider and using its product to deploy ransomware on customers’ systems. In this case, the software providers are The Digital Dental Record and PerCSoft…
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Was your dentist hit?
The number of worldwide phishing attacks detected by Kaspersky hit 129.9 million during the second quarter of 2019, according to a new report from the security vendor.
Have you been hit this year?
Ransomware attacks have more than doubled this year, as criminals turn to powerful new forms of file-locking malware and additional attack techniques to conduct campaigns that are more lucrative than ever before.
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Has your business been hit?
The threat actor behind the coordinated ransomware attack against multiple Texas local governments may have gained access to its computer systems via a third-party software provider. According to NPR, which first reported the development, the attackers want a collective ransom of $2.5 million. So far, there are no indications the amount has been paid.
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It seems that six months is not enough for Symantec to get its ducks in a row, as its anti-virus software is unable to handle new security industry standards (SHA-2 signatures), and led to Microsoft withholding updates from certain devices. In an update note for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2, Microsoft said that when a device runs any Symantec or Norton antivirus program, and attempts to install an update signed only with SHA-2, the antivirus program blocks or deletes the update during installation, which could make the operating system stop working. …
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Are you still using Symantec or Norton? Why?
Mention the dark web to security experts and their thoughts necessarily turn to its birthplace—Russia. From simple hack-sharing site origins, Russia’s cybercrime ecosystem has grown to rival that of its government. Ahead of releasing a report on the topic, Charity Wright, formerly with the NSA, and Ariel Ainhoren, Research Team Leader at IntSights, graciously summarized this evolution for us here at the Black Hat conference. …
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Have you explored the dark web?
A newly-discovered form of cryptocurrency- mining malware is capable of remaining so well-hidden that researchers investigating it found that it had spread to almost every computer at a company that had become infected. … The Monero-cryptomining campaign was uncovered after Varonis’ security platform spotted suspicious network alerts and abnormal file activity on systems within organisations that had reported unstable applications and network slowdown. …
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Are you confident your computers are viruses free?
More danger lurks around the corner as advanced techniques used by state-backed hackers, for example, to steal information, filter down to financially motivated attackers. This threat applies to the continuing growth of file-less malware, supply-chain attacks, and phishing. “We’re seeing the trend of advanced techniques being used to deliver commodity malware. Once the advanced technique becomes public knowledge…
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Are you confident your computers are viruses free?
