Yahoo Mail compromised -- is nothing safe anymore?
I've been dubious of trusting Yahoo since its ill-advised decision to start recycling email addresses. While my criticism of that decision was theoretical, my colleague Wayne Williams experienced this ineptitude in practice.
Sadly, recycling emails is not the only blemish on the service. Today, Yahoo announces that the email accounts of some users have been compromised. In other words, the company has joined a special club that includes Target and Michaels, with users feeling anxious and violated.
The Internet of Things: Hasn't SkyNet taught us anything?
Watching my RSS streams in Feedly on a daily basis has had my head spinning lately. It's not the usual flood of tech news getting to me. It's all the stories hitting recently about the so-called Internet of Things. For a topic that has so little to show for it in the real world thus far, it sure garners a disproportionate amount of attention in the tech media. So what gives?
Perhaps someone can fill me in on what this Internet of Things is supposed to look like. Is it a different internet? Is it a network solely designated for these newfound "things" that need to talk to every other "thing" out there? Or is it just more of what we already see in the market: giving every device possible an IP address to sit on. I'm just as perplexed at this bogus concept as Mike Elgan from Computerworld. He's calling it a wild idea that is rightly "doomed from the start" for numerous reasons.
Beware of fake versions of FileZilla FTP Client packing malware
It seems malware is everywhere these days, and many a user falls prey to it through emails, downloaded files and malicious websites. One trick is to name a bad file after a popular existing app -- Flash is a top target for this sort of thing.
The FileZilla FTP Client seems to be the latest target in this type of attack. Security researchers at Avast discovered this happening with versions 3.7.3 and 3.5.3 of the software. “We have noticed an increased presence of these malware versions of famous open source FTP clients”, the firm announces.
The Internet gets a win! Microsoft, Google and others allowed to disclose US Government requests
When the Prism and NSA scandal was unearthed and brought to light by Edward Snowden, the internet died a little. I still remember reading the news and being heartbroken that my own government was spying on me by forcing companies to secretly disclose information.
In June of 2013, Microsoft and Google filed lawsuits to gain the ability to disclose the details of these information requests. Today the internet scores a victory -- the shackles have been loosened, and the gags removed from these companies and others like them.
Yarn, ribbon and breached computers -- Michaels (possibly) gets hacked
Michaels is a pretty cool store, if you are into crafts. If you have a need for things like yarn, pipe-cleaners or fabric, it is a fabulous place. Heck, tech nerds can have fun there too -- they can build a Raspberry Pi case out of popsicle sticks.
However, there is one thing consumers don't expect to get at the craft store -- their credit cards compromised. Yes, Michaels joins Target as the latest victim of hackers...maybe. You see, sadly, it seems Michaels is not sure what exactly may have been breached (if anything).
Policing Twitter -- can the existing legal system cope with the technological age?
Twitter is rarely out of the headlines, but this week two legal cases surrounding the social network slash micro-blogging service brought it to attention for slightly different reasons than normal. On one side of the Atlantic a couple fell foul of the law for using Twitter to make threats to a feminist campaigner, while on the other a celebrity managed to avoid prosecution for libel after managing to plead ignorance about the falsity of a claim made online.
For a court case victory, it was announced in a very restrained, quiet way... particularly when you consider that the victor was none other than Courtney Love. The celebratory tweet reads simply "I can't thank you enough Dongell Lawrence Finney LLP, the most incredible law firm on the planet. We won this epic battle. #justiceprevails", and the decision to use Twitter was slightly ironic considering the fact that the court case stemmed from a previous tweet made by Ms. Love.
British school children subjected to NSA-style surveillance
The idea of being monitored, spied upon, surveilled, call it what you will, is something we are gradually becoming used to. CCTV cameras abound, we now know that our private communication could be intercepted at any time, and god only knows what else is going on unbeknownst to us. The plots of Person of Interest look positively tame compared to what is actually happening. Look, a whole introductory paragraph about modern-day surveillance and not one reference to Big Brother, 1984 or George Orwell. Oh ... damn.
But it seems that it is not just potential terrorists, criminals and other ne'er do wells who might feel concerned about who is reading their emails and monitoring their online activity. Hundreds of schools up and down the UK are actively monitoring the online communication of pupils using methods not too far removed from those employed by the NSA on a global scale.
Google will pay you up to $2.71828 million to hack Chromebooks
One of the most endearing things about Chrome OS is that it is very secure. Say what you want about it being nothing more than a browser. In reality, it is a Linux distribution where the user cannot install native software locally. The web-based nature of the OS makes it ideal for banking or accessing secure data. After all, without the possibility of installing software, the computer should be immune to malware.
I should watch my words because, the word "immune" simply makes the malware writers start salivating. After all, the belief that anything is 100-percent safe is the most dangerous thing of all. Not to mention, recently discovered rogue Chrome Extensions can be viewed as a form of malware. With that said, Google is challenging the world's best hackers to try and find holes in its Chromebooks. The carrot for which it dangles is a very healthy $2.71828 million!
Training reduces the risk of socially engineered security breaches
New analysis by security awareness training company KnowBe4 shows, perhaps not surprisingly, that training helps reduce risky online behavior in the workplace.
Carried out over a 12-month period, the study shows that whilst almost 16 percent of employees were prone to click on phishing links initially, this was reduced to 1.28 percent on average after training.
Want to ask Edward Snowden a question? Join the 'live Q&A' tomorrow
In June 2013, Edward Snowden was revealed as the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations, shortly turning the man into one of the most controversial public figures of 2013. The documents he stole while working as an NSA contractor and later leaked to the press have exposed a significant number of questionable practices employed by the US agency and its UK counterpart, GCHQ, to collect information and spy on people worldwide with debatable results.
Undoubtedly, many people have questions that they would like to ask Snowden about the outcome of his actions, his personal life or trips to certain countries. If you are part of that group, you can join the Q&A hosted by freesnowden.is, "the support site [...] run by The Courage Foundation and [...] the only endorsed Snowden Defence Fund". Edward Snowen will answer your questions on Thursday, starting at 3 pm EST (8 pm GMT).
AV-Test reveals the top security solutions for Windows 8.1
Independent testing lab AV-Test has revealed its list of the best security solutions for Windows 8.1, according to the company’s November/December 2013 tests.
Six suites were locked at top of the list for protection with maximum 100 percent scores in both months: F-Secure Internet Security 2014, Norton Internet Security 2014, Bitdefender Internet Security 2014, Avira Internet Security 2014 and -- after topping the AV-Comparatives table last month -- Kaspersky Internet Security 2014.
Management and employees out of step on IT policies
Email encryption specialist DataMotion has released the results of its second annual survey focusing on email and file transfer habits.
This highlights a wide-ranging communications disconnect between IT management and non-IT employees on security and compliance policies.
IObit releases Advanced Mobile Care 4.0 for Android
IObit has updated its excellent free all-in-one Android security and performance optimization app, making it safer and faster, and introducing some welcome additional features.
Advanced Mobile Care (AMC) 4.0 gains a streamlined interface and a set of useful new Android tools including a Call/SMS Blocker and Anti-Surveillance.
IT worker steals credit cards details of almost half of South Koreans
As data theft goes, it has to go down as one of the largest and most audacious acts in history. The numbers may not be the highest -- although it's still a very hefty figure -- but looked at in terms of percentage of population, it is staggering.
The work of a single person led to the credit card details of an incredible 20 million South Koreans, or almost half of the country's population, being stolen and sold onto marketing companies.
1234, throw that password out it's poor
California-based password management software specialist SplashData has released the results of its annual list of the internet’s worst passwords.
For the first time "password" has been knocked off the number one slot. This doesn’t mean people are getting more security minded, however, as it's been replaced by the equally obvious "123456".
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