Articles about Security

HP has released the results of a global study conducted with the Ponemon Institute indicating that the cost, frequency and time taken to resolve cyber attacks has risen for the fourth consecutive year.

The 2013 Cost of Cyber Crime Study found that the average annualized cost of cyber crime incurred by a benchmark sample of US organizations was $11.56 million, representing a 78 percent increase since the initial study was conducted four years ago and 26 percent up on the figure reported in 2012. The results also show that the time it takes to resolve a cyber attack has increased by nearly 130 percent during this same period, with the average cost incurred to resolve a single attack totaling more than $1 million.

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Adblock Plus is in its seventh year of clearing out advertisements from web pages, and is now for the first time sharing details about how its whitelisting system works. Known as Acceptable Ads, Adblock Plus recognizes the fact that advertising exists for a reason and is a cornerstone that keeps the internet running.

For this reason, advertisements that meet certain criteria are whitelisted, and Adblock Plus' Ben Williams reveals details of how the process works.

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There’s probably nothing worse for a major company than getting hacked. Just ask Adobe. But when the company in question is a provider of security software, well the embarrassment factor goes through the roof. And it’s definitely not good news for consumers who rely on the company’s software products to keep them safe online.

The website of AVG, makers of one of the world’s most popular free anti-virus products, was apparently hacked by a pro-Palestinian group earlier today, and fellow antivirus company Avira has also just suffered the exact same fate.

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A new survey from tech analysts Juniper Research shows that 80 percent of smartphones will remain unprotected throughout 2013 despite growing consumer awareness of mobile security products.

Juniper reckons that the low level of take up is down to a number of factors, including poor consumer awareness about online attacks on mobile devices and a widespread consumer perception that the price of security products is too high.

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This has been a week with a lot of news about operating systems. As we near the official release OS X Mavericks went GM and was made available to developers, while in the world of Linux Red Hat Enterprise 5.10 was also unveiled. Windows 8.1 was made available for pre-order, but a study of sales figures revealed that Windows 7 continues to grow faster than Windows 8. Ahead of his retirement sometime in the next twelve months, Microsoft's Steve Ballmer was punished for poor performance with a bonus reduction, with first generation Surface sales partly to blame.

Things look better for Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, with reports of the tablets selling out -- this is perhaps not surprising when Delta Airlines has bought 11,000 of the devices for its pilots. As well as looking forward, Microsoft also came over a little nostalgic, choosing to show off the capabilities of Internet Explorer 11 with a revived version of the classic Windows 95 game Hover.

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Over the course of 2013 we have seen many services adding a two-step authentication to their sign-in options, though most leave the decision of enabling it up to the individual customer. Now, the popular note-taking service Evernote, which works across both mobile and web platforms, has joined in the movement.

This is not entirely new -- the company first announced the availability back in May, but only gave the option to Premium and Business level customers, leaving the rest of the user-base without the extra security.

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As a company which specialises in reviewing the latest software, we occasionally have access to serial codes which we are offered to allocate to our web users. Problem is, how do we allocate these codes, fairly? This resulted in Downloadcrew Giveaway, which was a site created to serve three purposes: allocate serial codes as part of a full software giveaway, enable users to enter a ballot to win a serial code and to present discounted offers for the latest software.

We're bringing back Downloadcrew Giveaway for a limited period, running from now until the end of 2013, giving you serial codes for the very latest software, from some of the biggest brands. Expect to find codes from Kaspersky, Bitdefender, AVG, CyberLink, O&O Software, Auslogics and many other brands, to be confirmed.

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Adobe Flash is a necessary evil. I say "necessary" because even though HTML5 has made major strides, a full and complete web experience still seems to rely on Adobe Flash. I say "evil" because, from a security standpoint, some of Adobe's products (Flash and Reader particularly) are constant thorns in the sides of users and administrators. It feels like almost every other day there is a new security update for an Adobe product. Steve Jobs infamously banned Flash from iOS and Adobe killed-off the Linux and Android versions voluntarily. Sadly, Adobe today announces a far worse security issue than a Flash or Reader exploit.

Today, Adobe Chief Security Officer, Brad Arkin writes, "very recently, Adobe’s security team discovered sophisticated attacks on our network, involving the illegal access of customer information as well as source code for numerous Adobe products. We believe these attacks may be related".

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Yahoo is vastly increasing the bounty bug-hunters can hope to grab if they report a security issue to the company. The internet giant came in for criticism last month after a group of researchers discovered a scripting vulnerability and were rewarded with a Yahoo voucher for $12.50 -- which could only be used to purchase Yahoo merchandise. The company now sees the error of its ways and is increasing the rewards it offers, potentially up to $15,000.

Bugs and security issues are to be expected with all software -- it's an unfortunate reality that problems can and do arise. It is difficult for any developer to test every possible usage scenario, so it is often the users who discover problems with apps and online services. It is not uncommon for big-name companies to offer some form of compensation for helping out. Yahoo has already demonstrated its enthusiasm for improving security with its two-factor authentication features second sign-in and App Password.

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Two factor authentication is all the rage. Google has done it, as has Facebook and LinkedIn. Yahoo is getting in on the action with a couple of security features -- second sign-in verification and App Password.

Second sign-in verification works much as you would expect any similar service to work. Whenever a login is attempted from an unrecognized device, you'll be prompted to enter a code that will be sent to your mobile.

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Avira Operations has released the final editions of Avira Free Antivirus 2014, Avira Antivirus Suite 2014 (the new name for Antivirus Premium) and Avira Internet Security 2014.

If you’ve tried a beta then you’ll already know that the packages look and feel much as they always did. The best news is probably reserved for Avira Free users, who’ll find that the "notifier", the pop-up nag screen which appeared daily if you didn’t install the Avira toolbar, has been dropped.

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To say security and spying has been a hot button issue recently would be a mild understatement. Mostly we understand that if we are doing nothing wrong then we have no reason to worry about monitoring, though that certainly makes it no less a creepy feeling to some people.

Launching its first messaging service, file sharing organization BitTorrent points out "this year alone, more than six million people have been impacted by data breaches. The right to own your own conversations online: it’s not a given. It should be".

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It's extremely irritating. You change your Facebook status and immediately notice that you've made a stupid spelling mistake. This could come as a result of a slip of the finger, or your phone's autocorrect might be to blame. You could, of course, simply delete the status update and recreate it without errors. But what about if you've already managed to amass dozens of comments that you don’t want to lose?

Now there's no need to fret because Facebook has made it possible to make edits to statuses. At least this is the case if you're using the Android app or the website -- iOS app users will have to wait a little longer for an update. This is great news! No more stupid typos! No more statuses that sound like they were written by someone with their eyes closed after an evening of heavy drinking! Or is it such great news?

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Information security specialist Symantec has announced on its Security Response blog that it has taken the first steps towards combating the ZeroAccess botnet. The company has "sinkholed" more than half a million bots -- making a serious dent in the number of bots under attacker control. Symantec is actively working with ISPs and CERTs (Computer Emergency Readiness Teams) worldwide to help get infected machines cleaned up.

ZeroAccess has a highly technical and sophisticated infrastructure. It uses a peer-to-peer architecture giving the botnet a high degree of redundancy with no central command and control server. It also uses various advanced methods to survive on infected machines. It uses click-fraud and Bitcoin mining to carry out two revenue generating activities potentially earning millions of dollars a year.

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Kaspersky Internet Security 2014 makes big claims about its malware-blocking technology. But how would the suite perform in real life? We decided to find out.

Installation proved straightforward enough, if a little slow; the suite doesn’t exactly leap into action. We liked the fact that it doesn’t demand you remove any competing products, though -- that’s a decision which really needs to be left up to the user -- and after waiting for a minute or two, setup was complete and the program finally appeared.

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