security

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has disrupted a major malware botnet specifically designed to steal personal financial data from computers. Both US and UK security agencies are warning all users that they have a two week grace period to ... shore up their defenses before cybercriminals reactivate the threat. A botnet is essentially an army of malware-infected computers under the control of cybercriminals. In this case, the botnet is known as the GameOver Zeus. When a computer becomes infected with malware, it can also become part of a botnet. Malware infection is usually the result of ... (view more)

A new study reviewed security among leading online companies following the Heartbleed bug scare, in which a commonly used encryption technique for secure websites had the capability to expose highly confidential data. The study comes from Dashlane, ... a password management firm. The study evaluated 80 web sites and examined 6 factors with regard to the way passwords and login processes are handled. Using these details, Dashlane ranked each site between +100 and minus -100. Based on a range of security issues, the study suggests Apple and Microsoft have the securest policies for passwords, while ... (view more)

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DOHS) has warned that users should switch away from Internet Explorer until a serious bug has been fixed. It's the first big security scare since Microsoft stopped supporting Windows XP earlier this ... month. The bug doesn't have a glamorous nickname and is instead simply known as CVE-2014-1776. When triggered, the bug allows for remote code execution, which means a third party would have full control over a remote PC without the need for credentials or consent from the PC owner. By clicking on a malicious link or by visiting an infected ... (view more)

Facebook has officially released a new and somewhat controversial feature that allows users to track the location of their friends. But if used maliciously, the app raises major privacy concerns. The application is called "Nearby Friends" and it ... uses location information collected by smartphones. Facebook says its goal is to make it simple for people to find their friends and meet up in real life. When it's enabled, Nearby Friends shows users a list of Facebook friends who have agreed to share their location. The app can also alert a user if a friend comes within range (such as ... (view more)

A massive number of websites could be affected by a critical security flaw used in conjunction with web sites and web browsers. Experts suggest that all web users change their passwords to all major web sites (including banking, social media, etc) - ... but doing so comes with a number of caveats. The security flaw is related to SSL (secure sockets layer) and is expected to affect approximately six percent of all websites world-wide. According to a recent survey that reviewed approximately 959 million websites, "66% ... are powered by technology built around SSL, and that doesn't include ... (view more)

Google says the rate at which governments and other groups ask it to hand over user data has more than doubled in the past five years. However, a growing proportion of those requests are proving unjustified. The figures come from Google's ... twice-yearly Transparency Report, which it has been publishing since the second half of 2009. Back then it received a total of 12,539 requests in six months. That figure has risen in every period and the latest data, covering the second half of 2013, shows 27,477 requests. Since the first report, the number of requests made by governments has increased ... (view more)

A major financial news outlet has accused Target of missing clear warning signals that it was being hacked and customer data put at risk. Target is the second largest discount retailer in the United States, next to Walmart. In December 2013, Target ... confirmed that hackers had stolen credit card data from 40 million customers. The attack happened approximately 19 days after American Thanksgiving (November 28, 2013). The theft not only affected customers who had used credit cards online, but in stores as well. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Target had already set up a security center in ... (view more)

Microsoft's latest Patch Tuesday release fixes several security vulnerabilities currently marked "critical" -- the firm's highest security rating. Microsoft's Patch Tuesday fixes are always rolled out starting the second Tuesday of each month, but ... sometimes take longer to reach consumers depending on Internet availability. This month's Patch Tuesday includes five security updates, two of which have been marked critical. One of those critical fixes addresses a vulnerability in Internet Explorer, Microsoft's web browser. This month's updates are particularly ... (view more)

A new study suggests that most Americans favor Apple when it comes to mobile devices, though Samsung isn't too far from the top. The study was performed by KS Mobile, a San Francisco-based app maker for the Android and iOS platforms. The study was ... carried out between February 6 and 10, 2014, and involved 1,000 people aged 18 and older. Apple is for Women, Samsung is for Men: Study Suggests Of the people interviewed, nearly half of all women said they favored Apple mobile products, such as the iPhone. Only women aged 40 to 49 said they favored Samsung products. On the other hand, most men ... (view more)

A new report shows that Yahoo instant messages can be easily intercepted and read by government spies and hackers. The problem: Yahoo fails to encrypt those messages. A recent study by CNET shows that Yahoo continues to transmit message content in ... unencrypted form. This makes the instant messages vulnerable and exploitable by third parties. To compound the problem, a recent article by UK-based The Guardian shows that a number of government agencies are, in fact, spying on Yahoo's unencrypted messages. (Source: cnet.com ) Government Agents Spying on Everyday People Worse still, evidence ... (view more)