Topics

FB Messenger has reportedly been hacked, with thousands of private conversations stolen. (Source: Softonic)

Facebook messages from at least 81,000 accounts hacked & offered for sale online

The BBC has reported that the private messages associated with a minimum of 81,000 Facebook accounts have been stolen. This data was hacked using a browser extension, then offered for sale online. The security company Digital Shad...

Deirdre O Donnell, 03 Nov 2018 15:13

SMT allows for multi-threaded parallel processing, but has an apparent security flaw. (Source: Wikipedia)

New side-channel vulnerability confirmed in Kaby Lake and Skylake CPUs

A new CVE may enable yet another side-channel exploit in Intel processors. This vulnerability, known as CVE-2018-5407 (or "PortSmash"), targets Hyper-Threading (or simultaneous multi-threading (SMT)). It is confirmed as effective ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 02 Nov 2018 17:22

Websites could battle more bots without interrupting users thanks to reCAPTCHA v3

Google's latest iteration of the reCAPTCHA system, reCAPTCHA v3, is now available to website administrators and webmasters. reCAPTCHA v3 runs in the background, tracking user behavior and assigning a risk score based on that behav...

Sam Medley, 31 Oct 2018 17:11

Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus get updated... to Android 8.1 Oreo

The Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus are now receiving an update to Android 8.1 Oreo. While receiving a year old update is bad enough, the phones are also receiving the June 2018 Android security patch, putting the devices' security four ...

Sam Medley, 29 Oct 2018 20:58

Paypal bans alternative social media site Gab due to posts of the Pittsburgh shooter

Gab, a social media alternative to the likes of Facebook and Twitter, has come under fire yet again for posts from its users. This time, anti-Semitic posts from the Pittsburgh shooter, who shot and killed 11 people in a synagogue ...

Sam Medley, 29 Oct 2018 00:50

A large part of the point of the IoT revolution was to automate the home. (Source: uxdesign.cc)

Less than 40% of IoT consumers consider themselves reliant on their connected devices

Most people who own connected devices appear not to need them in their everyday lives. This is one of the findings of a new study into IoT use in the home and similar settings. 29% of these users were unsure of how their data was ...

Deirdre O Donnell, 25 Oct 2018 18:18

Yahoo suffered from massive data breaches in 2013 and 2014. (Source: PYMNTS)

Yahoo to pay US$50 million in data breach damages

Web service provider Yahoo has agreed to pay out US$50 million in damages in response to the huge data breaches the company suffered from in 2013 and 2014. Once the settlement has been legally approved, Yahoo accountholders affect...

Daniel R Deakin, 24 Oct 2018 21:35

Huawei Mate 20 Pro colors, flagship not available in the US

No Huawei Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro for the US market

Google and Apple can celebrate because the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and its non-Pro sibling will not give them a hard time in the US. Unfortunately for Huawei's US fans, the Chinese company has just confirmed that these two devices will...

Codrut Nistor, 22 Oct 2018 22:42

China has been accused of installing spy chips in servers used by U.S. companies like Apple and Amazon. (Source: PCMag)

Supermicro to carry out internal review in Chinese spy chip case

Supermicro has sent out a letter to its customers to reassure them that the tech company will be carrying out a thorough internal review of its hardware in regard to allegations made by a Bloomberg article. The news item argued th...

Daniel R Deakin, 22 Oct 2018 19:52

MIT's DAWG could easily be integrated in OS updates, and it is said to be less taxing on the overall system performance. (Source: Bit-Tech)

MIT provides alternative solution for Spectre-like CPU bugs

Intel may be implementing in-silicon solutions against Spectre and meltdown attacks, but not all threat variants can be identified this way. MIT's DAWG solution can detect all variants plus similar speculative attacks, and it can ...

Bogdan Solca, 19 Oct 2018 22:42

The Google Pixel 3 models feature the custom Titan M embeded security chip. (Source: Google)

Google details Titan M custom security chip in Pixel 3

Google has detailed what is so special about the new Titan M custom silicon it has baked into the Pixel 3 to help secure the device. In its latest blog post since the official launch of the device, Google has identified four key a...

Sanjiv Sathiah, 18 Oct 2018 11:04

Google+ is shutting down following a data breach. (Source: sharethis.com)

Google+ to shut down following hacking revelation

Google has admitted that its social media app, Google+, has been hacked. This data theft has affected approximately half a million profiles. The users in question may have had many points of important user data extracted from thei...

Deirdre O Donnell, 13 Oct 2018 17:47

The must-have fingerprint reader feature of this year may have competition already. (Source: Anandtech)

2019's in-display fingerprint reader may be considerably better than 2018's

There are some phones to be released later this year - as well as some that already have been - with in- or under-display fingerprint (FP) scanners. This technology is based on optical (or light) sensors that act to construct a 2D...

Deirdre O Donnell, 12 Oct 2018 14:30

DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused search engine, grows daily searches by 50% to 30 million

DuckDuckGo is quickly becoming a popular alternative to Google's increasingly invasive search engine. The privacy-focused search tool just announced hitting 30 million searches a day. While this is a far cry from the 3.5+ billion ...

Sam Medley, 11 Oct 2018 23:42

The Google Pixel 3 and 3 XL. (Source: Google)

Pixel 3 and 3 XL launch: any surprises are on the inside

The Google Pixel 3 and 3 XL have been released. Their appearance will surprise nobody, as both phones look exactly as described in all their leaks. The Pixel 3 XL has a notch, but may also have a lot of interesting new Google feat...

Deirdre O Donnell, 11 Oct 2018 00:43

Bloomberg claims that almost 30 US companies were affected by the alleged Chinese spy chips. (Source ITPro)

US Homeland Security statement plays down Bloomberg spy chips claim

The US Department of Homeland Security has issued a statement that seems to refute Bloomberg’s claim that a significant number of US companies had been compromised due to clandestine microchips reporting sensitive data back to Chi...

Daniel R Deakin, 07 Oct 2018 20:32

The T2 chip found in new MacBooks. (Source: macsales.com)

Can you fix your own 2018 MacBook? An internal Apple report says no, but iFixit says yes

An internal service document recently leaked from within Apple states that no-one but company staff and Authorized Apple Service Providers (AASPs) can repair or replace most MacBook 2018 and iMac Pro components without the devices...

Deirdre O Donnell, 06 Oct 2018 17:49

Pete Lau has revealed a few more details about the 6T. (Source: thehindu.com)

OnePlus CEO interview suggests that the 6T will cost more than the 6

Pete Lau, the CEO of the smartphone maker OnePlus, has been talking about the company's upcoming release in a new interview with CNET. Lau admitted that this phone, the 6T, is going to retail for more than its predecessor. Accordi...

Deirdre O Donnell, 02 Oct 2018 19:14

The video may have been intended to tease Screen Unlock. (Source: MSN)

OnePlus releases first official teaser video for the 6T

OnePlus has posted a teaser video for its upcoming 6T flagship update on Twitter. This clip, which is the first of its kind, may hint at the in-display fingerprint sensor confirmed to feature in the phone. The video also invites u...

Deirdre O Donnell, 01 Oct 2018 16:56

50 million Facebook accounts were compromised due to a security flaw

A Facebook breach has compromised almost 50 million accounts. After discovering the breach on September 25, the company reset the access tokens of the 50 million affected accounts and 40 million others as a precautionary step. The...

Sam Medley, 30 Sep 2018 00:07

A render showing all the leaked color options for the Mate 20 Pro. (Source: gizmochina.com)

Huawei Mate 20 Pro may come with voice-based unlocking

Huawei is now rumored to be integrating a new form of device security, Voice Unlock, into its upcoming flagship, the Mate 20 Pro. This device may also have a 6.9-inch screen, as much as 6GB in RAM and an extra-large battery. Howev...

Deirdre O Donnell, 29 Sep 2018 17:26

Adbank is an Ethereum-based ad platform. (Source: Adbank)

Austrian national tourism body will use blockchain to protect its next ad campaign

The Austrian national tourist office (ANTO) is embracing blockchain in order to protect its upcoming advertisement investment. It is a digital campaign that ANTO will roll out in partnership with Adbank, an Ethereum-linked platfor...

Deirdre O Donnell, 27 Sep 2018 18:18

The Galaxy P30 may feature Samsung's first in-display fingerprint sensing. (Source: 123rf.com)

Rumored Samsung device could be first to get Galaxy P-series name and graded color scheme

Move over Galaxy S, Galaxy P is here. At least, this is what an increasing number of leaks say. The series is purported to kick off with the release of the Galaxy P30 and P30+. It is also possible that one of them will come with i...

Deirdre O Donnell, 26 Sep 2018 19:48

Chrome now automatically logs you into the browser without telling you

The latest version of Google's Chrome browser will now automatically log users in if they log into any Google service. This, in turn, opens the door for the user's browsing data to be accessed by Google. While this isn't the case ...

Sam Medley, 25 Sep 2018 23:40

Canonical extends security support for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, which is the basis for many cloud and enterprise services, is coming up on its end of life this April. Canonical will begin offering an Extended Security Maintenance service in April that will continue rolling ou...

Sam Medley, 22 Sep 2018 05:43

A new reports estimates the worth of the smart home market in 2025. (Source: medium.com)

Smart home market to exceed US$90 billion by 2025: new report

Smart home technology has definitely caught on by now, with many people automating or controlling their living spaces with new products designed to be integrated into them. A new market research report suggests that the market bui...

Deirdre O Donnell, 21 Sep 2018 19:14

Two prominent VPN providers have needed to push updates for vulnerabilities in their systems. (Source: danielmiessler.com)

NordVPN and ProtonVPN obliged to push updates to patch new CVEs

Two popular VPNs have been reported as subject to newly-discovered security issues discovered by Cisco Talos. These flaws apply to those using the services on Windows PCs, and could allow a hacker access through a 'Connect' comman...

Deirdre O Donnell, 11 Sep 2018 18:24

MediaTek believes that its new feature, Active Stereo, is a better form of face-unlocking than Apple's. (Source: Deccan Chronicle)

MediaTek claims that its new Active Stereo will beat Apple Face ID

Device unlocking using an owner's face has become quite popular. Unfortunately, offering truly secure, flexible and effective facial scanning in your product can get difficult and expensive. MediaTek claims that its new take on th...

Deirdre O Donnell, 07 Sep 2018 17:06

The Librem 5 has been delayed by 3 months due to hardware issues. (Image: Purism)

Purism plans to ship first batch of Librem 5 Linux smartphones in April 2019

Purism's upcoming Linux phone, the Librem 5, has run into some development delays that have pushed its release back 3 months to April 2019. Due to a flaw in the phone's CPU, the battery drains in less than an hour. Purism is worki...

Sam Medley, 04 Sep 2018 23:40

Mastercard has been accused of selling cardholder details in a deal worth millions (Source: pentagram.com)

Mastercard reportedly sold purchase data to Google - without telling customers

Bloomberg sources have alleged that Google and Mastercard have signed a deal in which the former gets access to the latter's users' data. This partnership has apparently been in effect throughout 2018, and lets advertisers track s...

Deirdre O Donnell, 01 Sep 2018 23:29

devolo claim that their new line of Powerline-enabled Magic mesh adapters will speed up your home WiFi. (Source: devolo.co.uk)

IFA 2018 | devolo's new Magic line combines mesh WiFi and Powerline

devolo's new home networking solution, Magic, is a form of mesh WiFi that also uses Powerline technology. It does so using next-generation G.hn chips and new, AC-adapter mesh points. devolo claims that this combination can drastic...

Deirdre O Donnell, 01 Sep 2018 16:32

Yahoo reportedly sells its users' email data to advertisers. (Source: lifewire.com)

Yahoo is still profiting off your email data

Yahoo, which is now a part of Oath Inc., has been reported to persist in the sale of user email data to advertisers. This practice, which Google for one has sworn off in the past, may include the scanning of information concerning...

Deirdre O Donnell, 29 Aug 2018 23:30

ThinkPad T480s: Lenovo adds a ThinkPad Privacy Guard display option

Privacy and security are a major focus for business laptops. An in-built privacy filter like HP's SureView displays for its EliteBooks is very important for customers who work with sensitive information. To counter HP, Lenovo has ...

Benjamin Herzig, 29 Aug 2018 11:34

Epic Games has patched a major security flaw in the Fortnite Mobile installer for Android. (Source: APK Pure)

Fortnite Mobile installer for Android found to contain a Man-in-the-Disk exploit

Google disclosed a vulnerability in the Fortnite Mobile APK that allows a pre-installed malicious application to exploit the way the game installs for the first time in Samsung Galaxy devices. Thankfully, Epic has patched this vul...

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 26 Aug 2018 12:36

Firefox 62 will feature a new Firefox Monitor add-on. (Source: Mozilla)

Firefox 62 comes with Firefox Monitor that notifies if you've been pwned

Version 62 of Firefox will integrate a new add-on called Firefox Monitor that basically informs users if their email accounts have been compromised. The add-on uses the popular Have I Been Pwned database backend to check if the ac...

25 Aug 2018 18:02

Intel has been releasing security patches since January, but this is the first time it banned testing them for performance discrepancies. (Source: MarketWatch)

Intel revises ban on benchmarking its newest microcode patch

When Intel banned testing the performance of its newest microcode patch for security vulnerabilities, many tech enthusiasts spoke out against the company. Finally, Intel has listened to the backlash and will soon be revising the r...

Matthew Connatser, 24 Aug 2018 23:24

Xiaomi Mi A1 with August 2018 security patch Oreo 8.1

The Xiaomi Mi A1 gets a new security patch which also fixes the notification LED bug

Xiaomi's popular mid-range Mi A1 smartphone continues to receive full software support, the latest update for this handset bringing the official security patch dated August 5. Even better, the new firmware also addresses the notif...

Codrut Nistor, 22 Aug 2018 20:41

Siri, Apple's voice assistant, may be able to distinguish between user voices in the future. (Source: Sophos.com)

Recent Apple patent could allow Siri to recognize multiple different users

Apple has filed a patent that may contribute to the voice assistant Siri's functionality in the future. It may impart the ability to recognize different voices and attribute them to corresponding users on new versions of the softw...

Deirdre O Donnell, 21 Aug 2018 23:36

US President Donald Trump signs bill that bans ZTE and Huawei hardware from governmental use August 2018

No Huawei and ZTE handsets for the US government, decides President Trump

Although ZTE can sell its products to the civilian consumers all over the US, a recent bill that was signed by Donal Trump bans the government use of any device made by the Chinese brand due to security issues. Even more, this bil...

Codrut Nistor, 14 Aug 2018 23:03

A team of researchers has found that it is possible to compromise a Mac during its initial boot. (Source: CGTrader)

Black Hat USA briefing indicates possible set-up exploits in enterprise-level Macs

Macs are more or less impervious to hacking, right? Not any more, according to two cybersecurity researchers during a briefing at the Black Hat USA Conference 2018. However, the attacks involved are difficult to achieve and need t...

Deirdre O Donnell, 14 Aug 2018 11:59

Google's Project Zero was set up to research improved data security. (Source: SteemKR)

The head of Google's Project Zero sees no future for blockchain in security

Parisa Tabriz is a director of engineering and also leads Project Zero, a cybersecurity research core, at Google. Tabriz delivered the opening keynote at a recent conference in Las Vegas, in which she dismissed blockchain's potent...

Deirdre O Donnell, 11 Aug 2018 15:55

Meltdown alongside Spectre was originally reported as a hardware level exploit on Intel CPUs (Source: meltdownattack.com)

Qualcomm CPUs have been shown to be unprotected against the Meltdown exploit, researchers say

Earlier this year two large security exploits known as Spectre and Meltdown were reported to exist on modern day CPUs. While Spectre has been confirmed to be exploitable on AMD, Intel, IBM, and ARM, it was previously believed only...

Matthew Connatser, 09 Aug 2018 19:43

Four-year old Microsoft Surface Pro 3 gets security update

Though the patch notes don't explicitly mention it, the update is likely addressing the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities on the old Microsoft 2-in-1 tablet. Owners should prepare for a small performance drop if so.

Allen Ngo, 09 Aug 2018 02:23

TSMC is one of the world's leading producers in fabs and node process development (Source: Wikimedia)

Update | Semiconductor company TSMC attacked by virus, production line affected

TSMC stopped production in several fabs on August 3 after a virus had penetrated key systems. Production has stabilized and returned to normal, but how the virus infiltrated the company is still unknown. The downtime caused by the...

Matthew Connatser, 08 Aug 2018 04:27

Contact number of the UIDAI was discovered in Indian Android phones. (Source India TV)

Google admits to 'inadvertently coding' Aadhaar helpline number in Indian Android phones

Smartphone users in India are reporting seeing an entry for a contact in their phonebook that purportedly belongs to a Government authority. The number apparently was added without users' consent and Google has now issued a clarif...

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 05 Aug 2018 08:44

Ron Wyden wants all US Government sites to remove Adobe Flash content by next year. (Source: Fossbytes)

US Government agencies asked to stop using Adobe Flash

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has instructed Government agencies to come up with procedures to remove Adobe Flash from all US Government sites and PCs by August 1, 2019 citing Adobe's end of Flash support by end of 2020. This move is b...

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 29 Jul 2018 19:33

Dell XPS 15 9570 with Intel Core i9 is immune to AMT vulnerabilities

The Dell XPS 15 9570 with Core i9 is immune to Active Management Technology-related issues

While the Dell XPS 15 9570 that uses the high-end Intel Core i9 processor comes with vPro disabled, some users are afraid of the AMT-related vulnerabilities that could allow a remote attacker to gain control of their machines. Fra...

Codrut Nistor, 27 Jul 2018 15:01

The latest Bluetooth vulnerability affects smartphones as well as laptops integrating Intel/Broadcom/Qualcomm Bluetooth-enabled hardware. (Source: Cubot Blog)

New critical Bluetooth exploit discovered

The latest Bluetooth vulnerability may affect many more devices than last year's BlueBorne, because it can affect smartphones as well as laptops that integrate Apple, Google, Intel, Broadcom or Qualcomm hardware. Due to insufficie...

Bogdan Solca, 25 Jul 2018 21:39