security

Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic are considering laws to tighten cyber security for the so-called Internet of Things (IoT). The rules would cover devices that aren't traditional computers or phones but still connect to the Internet. The ... United States Congress is considering the Internet of Things Cyber Security Improvement Act. It's been examined by a Senate committee and is currently awaiting a date to be examined by the Senate as a whole. However, there's no guarantee it will be heard before the end of the year and newly elected or re-elected Senators taking their seats. Agency To ... (view more)

Windows 7 computers running the Zoom videoconferencing tool are at risk from a "zero day" vulnerability. It's a reminder of the dangers of an outdated operating system. The problem will be fixed in a patch by Zoom itself rather than from Microsoft. ... Microsoft dropped support for Windows 7 on January 14 this year, meaning it doesn't offer security updates or fix any bugs. A zero day vulnerability is one that is known by somebody other than the developer or manufacturer before a fix is ready. In effect, the developers have "zero days" of head start distributing the fix before people can start ... (view more)

A researcher has found a major bug with Thunderbolt port technology that could undermine major security measures on multiple computer systems. There's a big mitigating factor though: an attacker would need extended physical access to the computer in ... order to carry out the exploit. Thunderbolt is a technology that is similar in concept to USB, but adds fiber optic to the usual copper wires. Compared to USB, Thunderbolt has high speed and capacity. Common uses include super-fast device charging (including laptops), 4K video, and extremely quick data transfers. Originally Thunderbolt was only ... (view more)

The latest Windows 10 update blunder temporarily left some users without full use of the system's in-built antivirus / antimalware protection. Though enthusiasts quickly spotted a workaround, the problem has now been fixed with a Windows 10 update. ... The initial problem wasn't actually a system update to Windows 10 itself that caused the issue, but rather an antivirus definition update file for Windows Defender. Essentially, a "definition update" contains details of the latest known threats that the tool can immediately deal with. For some users, the problem only arose when running a full scan ... (view more)

Microsoft is switching to a "security updates only" model for Windows from May until further notice. The idea is to limit the risk of creating bugs while many people are working from home without IT support staff. The change affects what are known ... internally at Microsoft as C and D updates. Those roll out on the third and fourth week of the month and contain previews and testing of new features that are planned for a main release the following month. Microsoft will continue with the B update on the second Tuesday of each month, unofficially known as Patch Tuesday. However, this will now only ... (view more)

Microsoft has warned users of a significant unpatched security flaw in Windows. It's offered some key steps to take while the problem is being fixed. The problem affects all currently supported versions of Windows, though Windows 7 and 8 machines ... are affected 'critically' according to the Microsoft advisory bulletin. Attacks on Windows 10 machines are considerably more constrained due to its enhanced security features. Microsoft says its currently only aware of targeted attacks on Windows 7 machines, though that could change now the bug has been made public. (Source: microsoft.com ) Adobe ... (view more)

Windows 10's built-in security tool Windows Defender has stopped working properly for some users. There's a workaround for those who want added peace of mind. Exactly what's causing the problem isn't yet clear, but some users are finding both manual ... and automatic scans produce messages such as: "Items skipped during scan: The Windows Defender Antivirus scan skipped an item due to exclusion or network scanning settings." In other cases, the error message reports that the entire scan was skipped. The message isn't proving particularly helpful as it's not clear what items are actually being ... (view more)

A new ransomware variant takes advantage of a Microsoft Excel feature. It's a good reminder to keep security software up-to-date. The variant has been reported by security company Lastline. It involves a known ransomware called Paradise that ... operates in the familiar fashion: the attackers find a way to get remote access to a computer then encrypt files and demand a fee to restore access - sometimes in the tens of thousands of dollars, or much higher. In this case, the attackers try to trick victims into opening a file attachment that creates the opening for accessing the machine. The ... (view more)

Most online attacks don't involve malware, according to newly published figures. It's the first time "fileless techniques" have been in the majority. The figures come from an annual report by security company CrowdStrike. It says it analyzed its own ... customer data along with that from investigations into known attackers and data from reported incidents. According to the report, malware-free attacks made up 51 percent of the total during 2019, up from 40 percent the previous year. The tactics were particularly prevalent in North America, making up 74 percent of attacks. (Source: zdnet.com ) As ... (view more)

Google has issued a critically important update to its Chrome browser due to a nasty zero day bug. The browser should update automatically for most users, but the bug is serious enough that it's a case of checking to ensure that the update has been ... successfully applied. The update fixes three security problems, one of which is a critical. It means hackers were actively exploiting the problem before Google fixed it - meaning the update process gave users a zero day head start on the bad guys (hence the term, ' zero day exploit '). Perhaps unsurprisingly, Google isn't saying much at all about ... (view more)