How health history is more valuable to hackers than your credit card information
A recent article stated that medical records could be sold for up to 20 times more than credit card information on the black market. There are various factors as to why consumers’ medical information has become so valuable. This article considers those factors as well as some precautions medical providers can take to better protect themselves against malicious threats.
The first thing that needs to be addressed is why hackers prefer to buy and sell medical records versus credit card information.
Revealed: the secret guide to encryption, hacking, and surveillance for governments
There is now great interest in the level of governmental interference that takes place into online activity. Edward Snowden told the world about what the NSA was up to and there are now numerous websites dealing with the revelation that he made. One such site is The Intercept, and it has just published the secret manuals that are supplied to governments who want to use a suite of specialist tools to monitor web users' activities.
Sub-titled "the hacking suite for governmental interception", RCS 9 (or Remote Control System) is a suite of tools from Hacking Team. The Italian security and surveillance company is responsible for providing hacking and monitoring guides and software to a list of countries including Colombia, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia. RCS itself is "a solution designed to evade encryption" -- the sort of encryption put in place by Google.
Facebook opens up to Tor users with new secure .onion address
For those who are concerned about their privacy post-Snowden, there are various ways to boost online privacy such as using the anonymizing Tor browser. Browsing the internet anonymously is something that scares the authorities -- there were reports just a couple of months ago that Comcast was threatening to cut off customers who chose to use Tor -- but now Facebook has opened up to the idea.
The social network -- often criticized for its own privacy policies -- has lifted its bans on using Tor, and has created a secure URL (https://facebookcorewwwi.onion/). This can be used to visit Facebook using any Tor-enabled browser and adds a few extra layers of protection for those looking to stay secure. While the idea of anonymity on Facebook may seem oxymoronic, there is a degree of logic.
Next-gen firewalls need to evolve to avoid becoming irrelevant
When Gartner coined the phrase "next generation firewall", in 2003, it captured a then-nascent approach to traffic classification and control. Combining traditional packet filtering with some application control and IPS layered on top, today's 'legacy' NGFWs do pretty much what they say on the tin.
However, while NGFWs continue to be a vital part of an organization’s protection, they were designed for a time before advanced targeted threats started attacking our enterprises -- threats which often go undetected until it's too late.
Getting the basics of network security right
With every new breach, network security hits the news, yet many people and companies still don’t get the basics right.
UK-based wireless network specialist Exigent Networks has produced an infographic that looks at the importance of network security and offers tips and expert advice.
What's your password backup plan?
After news broke earlier this month that hackers had gotten their hands on nearly 7 million Dropbox login credentials, the familiar media chorus of password safety tips soon followed. You likely saw the headlines: "How to Change Your Dropbox Password". "It’s Time to Enable Two-Step Authentication on Everything". "Never Ever Reuse Your Passwords".
It’s not that good password hygiene isn’t important. Enabling two-factor authentication, not using the same passwords for multiple sites, changing passwords every couple of months -- these are all aspects of a smart and savvy approach to protecting the files and data that you store online. But they’re not foolproof. As hackers grow increasingly sophisticated, even users following all the "rules" may see their login credentials compromised as part of an attack. Additionally, for companies whose employees use consumer-facing platforms, enforcing password safety rules can sometimes be a challenge. Whether it’s a result of hacker expertise or human error, when passwords fail, companies must make sure they have a backup plan in place.
How multimodal biometrics improves border control security
The use of biometrics by border control agencies worldwide is now commonplace. Many countries around the world are deploying or have already deployed biometric border security systems for accurate and fast identification of citizens and foreign travelers.
Border security biometric systems include national database deployments in entrance and exit systems, immigration, and e-passports, to track and manage the flow of humans across borders. More sophisticated technologies like multimodal biometrics identification are now considered more reliable to improve border control security.
Samaritans Radar puts Twitter users on suicide watch
We all go through difficult times, and it can often be hard to cope with what life throws at us. Whether you're going through a particularly tricky patch and feeling low, or you're struggling with depression, it can be helpful to know that there are people you can talk to. But reaching out to people can be hard and it often falls to friends to notice signs of someone in trouble so they can be there when required.
Everyone would like to think they would notice when a friend starts to post worrying messages online, but the sheer volume of content we all consume each day means that it is easy to miss something important. Suicide prevention charity, Samaritans, has launched a new online venture, Samaritans Radar, which monitors the Twitter feeds of those who sign up, looking out for "potentially worrying tweets".
Feedly kills URL shortener to improve speed, security, and privacy
Back in January feedly -- the RSS reader that tried to fill the gap left by the death of Google Reader -- introduced a URL shortener. At the time it was billed as a "captur[ing] analytics about how people are engaging with the content you are sharing". Ten months later, the news service realized that this could be seen as being overly intrusive and has killed the tool.
The original blog post that heralded the launch of feedly.com/e has been updated to reflect the fact that the shortener is no more. "With hindsight this was a bad idea. We focused too much on feedly's growth versus doing what is right for users and for the Web. Sorry".
How to defeat network zombies this Halloween
Zombies are a staple of the horror film industry despite being absurdly ill-equipped to play the role of a predatory force unleashing Armageddon on the human race. They're embarrassingly slow and brainless, for starters. They have terrible personal hygiene, can't operate machinery of any kind, they can't drive and they even don't know how to use a computer or a smartphone. As if that wasn't bad enough, no one has properly explained why some people they kill become zombies and others are completely gobbled up.
Network zombies, on the other hand, are an all too real menace for the modern-day IT administrator. They are smarter than the average zombie, impossible to predict because they appear randomly without warning and dangerous because they cause downtime and lost productivity. Without the right approach, they are nearly impossible to locate and kill.
Breach detection market expected to exceed $1.3 billion by 2018
Security breaches have become a major worry for businesses in the last two years and that's reflected in strong growth of the market for breach detection products.
A new market intelligence brief by NSS Labs looks at the rapid rise of breach detection systems (BDS). In 2013 the BDS market was worth over $289 million dollars, up 99 percent over the previous year.
Apple Pay rival CurrentC hacked -- email addresses stolen
Yesterday, Ed Oswald wrote a story about the retailer-backed payment network CurrentC, describing it as a threat to iPhone and Android users alike. In the article he spoke about the security of the system, saying "CurrentC is overly complicated, and just leaves too many opportunities for something to go wrong, or a hacker to make their way in".
He turns out to have been spot on, as today MCX admits its service has already been hacked, with email addresses of participants in the pilot program and other interested individuals being stolen. Hardly the most auspicious of starts. The following email was sent to those affected:
Tor user? Your computer could be infected with malware
Authorities are advising all users of the Tor network to check their computers for malware after it emerged that a Russian hacker has been using the network to spread a powerful virus.
Tor, which began as a secret project from the US Naval Research Laboratory, works by piling up layers of encryption over data, nested like the layers of an onion, which gave the network its original name, The Onion Router (TOR).
Keyless cars being targeted by high-tech thieves in London
Thefts of cars that use keyless fobs to gain access are on the rise after criminals gained the ability to hack into the car’s onboard computer and it is causing some luxury car owners to be refused insurance.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers [SMMT] reports that organized crime syndicates have been able to bypass the onboard security by using software only meant for mechanics and start vehicles using the ignition button present in many high end models, such as Range Rovers and BMWs.
Incapsula launches how-to guide for dealing with DDoS attacks
We reported back in March that DDoS attacks had risen sharply to become a major threat for online businesses.
In order to help companies cope, cloud security provider Incapsula is today launching a DDoS Playbook analyzing the threat landscape and providing businesses with a how-to guide to fend off attacks.
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