Security

Mon
31
Oct
John Lister's picture

Thermal Images Could Reveal Passwords

Researchers say a thermal imaging camera could help crack passwords. It's not exactly a looming threat for the average user, though the study does reinforce the important of longer passwords. The research from the University of Glasgow appears to ... have been inspired by noticing that thermal-imaging cameras are becoming more affordable (less than $220 in some cases) and wondering how they could combine with machine learning. The researchers say they same idea may have struck would-be criminals, so it was worth trying to get one step ahead of them. (Source: zdnet.com ) The project followed a ... (view more)

Fri
07
Oct
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Reusing Windows 11 Password Will Be Flagged

Microsoft has added a new feature to warn users when they type their Windows password into a scam site. It's particularly aimed at people who reuse passwords, a particularly risky approach. "Enhanced Phishing Protection" is available to both ... consumer and business users who've installed 22H2, the first major update for Windows 11. However, it's not yet switched on by default and instead users must enable it in settings menus. The relevant menus are Start, Settings, Privacy ... (view more)

Mon
03
Oct
John Lister's picture

Malwarebytes Labels Google As Malware

A popular malware-fighting tool left users unable to access Google and YouTube after a blunder. It's the second time Google has been hit by false positives in the past few weeks. This problem affected Malwarebytes, one of the more popular security ... tools other than those built in to operating systems. Specifically, the problem was with the premium version of Malwarebytes that integrates with web browsers, checks links the user might visit, and blocks the link if it points to a domain believed to pose a security risk. Such risks can include look-alike sites used for phishing scams to try to ... (view more)

Thu
22
Sep
John Lister's picture

Data Gathering 'A Security Threat'

A former diplomat says the amount of data shared and sold in the US puts the country at security risk. Karen Kornbluh said businesses gathering data on a large scale created a "national security loophole." She also points to a recent warning that ... China was attempting to gather data, both legally and illegally, about US citizens' health. The country is thought to be looking for blackmail material, for example on people in positions of power who have been treated for mental illness or embarrassing physical complaints. (Source: dni.gov ) Kornbluh previously held senior roles at the Federal ... (view more)

Tue
20
Sep
John Lister's picture

Phone Cleaner and Security Apps Were Scams

Two more applications have been removed from the Google Play Store after turning out to be a front for malware. As always in such cases, users who already have the apps installed need to uninstall them as this won't happen automatically. The apps in ... question are called Mister Phone Cleaner and Kylhavy Mobile Security. They had 50,000 and 10,000 downloads respectively before Google pulled the listings. The scam in these cases has a couple of key differences from the familiar story of scammers disguising malware as legitimate apps and finding a way to bypass Google's security checks. That ... (view more)

Mon
22
Aug
John Lister's picture

Ransomware Scammers Now Blackmailing to Leak Data

Ransomware scammers are targeting smaller businesses, partly because larger firms are refusing to pay up. Attackers are also more likely to threaten to expose data than in the pass. The statistics come from security company Coveware, which sells ... ransomware response services. While precise figures should be taken with a pinch of salt, the company reports the average (mean) payout to ransomware scammers in the second quarter of 2022 was $228,125, up eight percent on the previous quarter. (Source: coveware.com ) However, it appears that's a case of a few major attacks distorting the average. The ... (view more)

Thu
04
Aug
John Lister's picture

New Android Malware Discovered

Some Google Play Store apps with more than a million downloads have turned out to house malware. It's a reminder that however good Google's security vetting process is, it's not perfectly reliable. Two security companies, ThreatLabZ and Evina, say ... they found a total of 60 apps that are or have been in the Play Store and house one of four "families" of malware. One type appears to be new and has been dubbed Autolycos by researcher Maxime Ingrao. Promoted via Facebook and Instagram ads, the apps use a common technique. They are listed as carrying out a specific feature, which they ... (view more)

Mon
01
Aug
John Lister's picture

Canadian Internet Outage Has Repercussions

Canadian communications giant Rogers is to give extra credit to customers hit by a 15-hour Internet outage. But regulators want to know more about what caused the problem and how it can be prevented in the future. The outage had a huge impact, ... partly because of the sheer size of Rogers' customer base. It has a reported 11 million customers in a country with a population of 38 million. To make things even worse, the outage also affected some critical infrastructure including emergency phone lines and bank machines. That's prompted the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ... (view more)

Wed
20
Jul
John Lister's picture

Software Updates May Bring Back Zero-day Bugs

At least half the zero-day bugs discovered by Google this year were preventable according to one of its security experts. She pointed to sloppiness by software developers. The claims came in a talk and subsequent blog post by Maddie Stone. She's ... part of Google's Project Zero security program. While precise definitions sometimes vary, the general principle of a zero-day bug is that it's where attackers are exploiting the vulnerability before the software developers have a chance to develop a fix - in most cases because they aren't even aware of the bug. The name comes from the way the ... (view more)

Tue
28
Jun
John Lister's picture

Password Manager Goes Passwordless

Password manager LastPass will let users prove their identity with a biometric login rather than a master password. It could overcome one of the off-putting points for some users. Like most password managers, LastPass lets users store passwords for ... other websites in a secure vault that's encrypted in a way that means even LastPass itself can't access the information. It's protected with a master password that gives the service its name, the logic being it's the last password a user will ever need to remember. That does mean the master password needs a bit of a Goldilocks quality. It needs to ... (view more)

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