5 popular tactics scammers and hackers use to steal your identity
Though stealing someone’s identity is illegal, there are plenty of sneaky but legal tactics scammers and hackers employ that can expose you to identity theft as well. The first step in preventing this distressing scenario is being aware of the more common data collection schemes used to leave you vulnerable.
Here, we’ll detail five strategies you should be aware of so you can keep your identity -- and sanity -- in check.
Better online security or faster internet, which would you choose?
Your answer probably depends on how old you are. According to a new survey 57 percent of Americans would take the better security. However, where millennials are concerned 54 percent would rather improve their internet speed.
This is among the findings of a new survey by adaptive access control company SecureAuth Corporation and Wakefield Research. Gender and education make a difference too, while men are split fairly evenly between personal online security (51 percent) and speed (49 percent) significantly more women care about online security (62 percent). When it comes to education, 63 percent of college graduates care about security, as against 47 percent of high school graduates.
Brazil a major cyber security risk ahead of Olympics
There have been plenty of concerns in the news over Brazil's readiness to host this year's summer Olympics, ranging from the Zika virus and political unrest to poor ticket sales.
A new report from BitSight Technologies highlights cyber security concerns too with security performance of companies in Brazil among the worst in the developed nations, meaning business dealings in this region could come with serious risk.
Malwarebytes extends enterprise endpoint detection system to include Macs
Although Macs have been relatively immune to malware, they have faced nuisance apps like adware and PUPs for years, and new threats are appearing, including ransomware like KeRanger. Experts believe it's only a matter of time before the next big attacks against Macs surface.
With more companies turning to Macs and a rising number of new threats, concern about the possibility of widespread Mac vulnerabilities is on the rise. Malware protection specialist Malwarebytes is responding to this by extending its Breach Remediation platform to cover Mac systems.
Mozilla welcomes privacy-boosting GDPR data protection law updates
In a world more concerned than ever with privacy and data security, law makers are scrambling to keep up to date. With the growth of the internet, many old and inappropriate laws have been bent to fit a purpose they were not designed for. A case in point are European data protection directives which date back more than two decades.
In April this year a new law was adopted -- the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. With compliance with the law required of the 28 EU member states by 25 May 2018, a two-year countdown is now underway. GDPR is welcomed by Mozilla who is using the 24-month compliance deadline to draw attention to some of the regulation's highlights.
Ransomwhat? 43 percent don't know what ransomware is
A new report shows that 43 percent of consumers in the US and Canada don't know what ransomware is. A similar number (44 percent) say they don’t know what data or information could be stolen in a ransomware attack.
The study by Kaspersky Lab surveyed 4,000 US and 1,000 Canadian consumers aged over 16 and found that only 16 percent mentioned ransomware as a cyber threat they were worried about, compared to their concerns about viruses, spyware and Trojans.
People want safer alternatives to passwords and they want them now
As the recent leak of LinkedIn data shows, passwords are an increasingly vulnerable and flawed way of securing systems.
A new survey from identity management specialist Gigya reveals that consumers are beginning to recognize this and that 52 percent would choose anything but a traditional username and password account registration when given the option.
Apple re-hires security expert of PGP, Blackphone and Silent Circle fame
Following the company's very public stand-off with the FBI over the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, Apple is demonstrating that it has a great interest in security by re-hiring encryption expert Jon Callas.
Best known for founding security-focused firms PGP Corp and Silent Circle -- the company behind the ultra-secure, privacy-centric Blackphone -- Callas has worked for Apple on two previous occasions.
How much does a DDoS attack cost?
Security researchers have discovered that DDoS attacks are now available to purchase on the Internet for as little as $5 an hour.
The researchers, who work for the security firm Imperva, were able to find distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS) for as low as $5 an hour on the online professional services marketplace Fiverr. A year ago these same services cost $38 an hour and could only be found on the dark web.
Brits are willing to compromise their online security to get fit for the beach
With the approach of summer, many people are looking for diet and fitness solutions to get themselves ready for the beach.
But research into the practices of 1,000 British internet users by Intel Security finds a willingness to compromise online security to achieve a dream body.
New healthcare platform addresses communications compliance challenges
The healthcare and pharmaceutical industries are highly regulated and need to constantly keep up with changing demands and regulations.
California-based Actiance, specialists in communications compliance, analytics and archiving, has launched a new cloud-based platform aimed at the health sector which addresses new and existing regulatory retention, security and privacy requirements, while reducing the risk and expense of costly eDiscovery and compliance activities.
Mobile security is not a concern for European workers
Businesses in the UK, as well as elsewhere in Europe, are not really worried about security, as their employees increasingly use company mobile devices, new research has shown.
Secure identity solutions firm HID has revealed that 77 percent of employees in the UK aren’t concerned about mobile security, highlighting a pretty high level of confidence in they have in mobile security. Looking at Germany, the percentage stands at 82. Overall, 74 percent of European workers are confident about using corporate mobile devices.
Hackers going after Middle East banks
Researchers at the US cybersecurity company FireEye have discovered that hackers have begun to probe the defenses of banks in the Middle East by targeting bank employees with malware-infected emails to collect information about bank networks and user accounts.
The company started an investigation into the cyberattack in February in which hackers were able to steal $81 million from Bangladesh’s central bank. FireEye found no apparent connection between that attack and the similar attacks against banks in Vietnam and Ecuador. Currently in all three cases the hackers responsible for the attacks are unknown.
Hackers using bot armies for financial gain
A new security report by digital identity company ThreatMetrix says hackers are using a large army made out of "automated cyber robots", or bots, for financial gain.
Their Q1 2016 report, entitled Q1 Cybercrime Report, says there have been 311 million bot attacks detected and stopped in this year’s first quarter.
Edward Snowden warns about the dangers of using Google Allo
When Google announced the launch of two new messaging apps, the world wondered why. Duo is focused on video calling, while Allo is a more traditional messaging tool, albeit one with a Google assistant built in.
But while the world shrugged, Edward Snowden issued a stark warning. He says that Allo should be avoided, pointing out that the lack of end-to-end encryption makes it "dangerous".
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