Security

The legal procedures were initiated by attorney Larry Williams II who claims that key persons were able to eavesdrop on his sworn testimony given during a client deposition via the FaceTime bug. Apple appears to have known about the problem since early last week, but it only issued a temporary fix on February 28, and a full patch is expected to be released later this week.

Released back in September 2012, Internet Explorer 10 still receives support from Microsoft, although it has been succeeded by Internet Explorer 11 and Microsoft Edge. However, Microsoft has finally made the official announcement: Internet Explorer 10 will be laid to rest in a year from now.

Some alarming reports of a serious error in Group FaceTime associated with iOS 12.1 or later, have emerged. This bug allows an iPhone user to activate the call microphone of a second iPhone, whether its own user is aware of this or not. Apple has announced that they are working on a solution, and has also addressed it in the interim by shutting the video-call service down on their end.

Facebook has just announced an initiative in which messages from its own Messenger, as well as from its acquisitions Instagram and WhatsApp, will be integrated using a singular infrastructure. This contravenes an earlier commitment on the part of the parent company that these 3 services would remain independent. This plan has also raised alarm among privacy experts and WhatsApp staff.

Notorious financier and philanthropist George Soros thinks that China's push in the AI field — which involves the plan to overtake the US by 2030 — is a severe threat to open societies. He also said that the social credit system "would give Xi Jinping total control over the people" if it became operational.

The Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL) has imposed a fine of €50 million (~US$56.8 million) on Google for violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The huge penalty has been justified by the regulatory body based on the severity of the violations, Google’s popularity with French users, and the fact that the infringements were ongoing.

Ren Zhengfei, the CEO of Huawei, has written an email warning his colleagues of the possibility of "hard times" in the future. They may include reductions in the size of the company's various regional subsidiaries. These comments may be related to Huawei's recent loss of business in the 5G infrastructure area.

Although some customers received protection from spam and robocalling in the past, now Verizon is ready to provide these useful security features to all its customers. These two treats will be offered for free starting in March, revealed Joe Russo, senior vice president of network operations for Verizon.

Although Yahoo's most severe data breach apparently involved more accounts than Collection #1, this new major security incident involves almost 2.7 billion records, including almost 773 million unique email addresses alongside passwords associated with those addresses on various breached services.

YouTube has amended its policies in regard to content that depicts dangerous challenges and pranks. Videos that encourage or show activities that could lead to physical harm, make people think they are in danger, or show pranks that could be upsetting to children, have all been banned. The recent popularity of the so-called “Bird Box Challenge” is believed to have been a contributing factor to the updated policy.

Realme (OPPO's increasingly popular sub-brand) has decided to release a tool enabling owners of its 2 Pro device to unlock their bootloaders. However, it involves rather more steps than the average adb-command process for many Android phones. Realme also claims that bootloader-unlocking in this case increases the risks to user personal data and security.

The new Librem 13 / 15 models come equipped with the i7-7500U CPU coupled with up to 16 GB of DDR4-2133 RAM and up to 2 TB NVMe SSD + 4 TB SATA SSD storage combos. The security features from the previous versions are still there and the Linux-based PureOS got an upgrade as well. The 13-inch model still features an FHD display, while the 15-incher got a 4K upgrade.

Although the game itself is free, Fortnite also features virtual coins that can be used to purchase various in-game items. Scammers use stolen credit cards to buy V-bucks and then sell them for good rates to legitimate players. Just as expected, these transactions are being done via the Dark Web.

Although mainstream support for Windows 7 SP1 ended on January 13, 2015, those still using this operating system have one year of free support and updates ahead. Unfortunately, once the extended support period will end, they have to upgrade, use a system that is no longer secure, or purchase extended security updates.

In Poland, the counterintelligence devision of the domestic intelligence service has searched Huawei's offices. A Huawei employee was arrested on suspicion of espionage. A Polish cyber security expert was arrested as well.

An article posted to the online outlet Motherboard has alleged that the carriers T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T have been selling their US customers' geolocation data to private companies, who then went on to sell it to other parties such as those who issue bail bonds. The carriers in question have subsequently committed to put an end to these practices.

The latest version of WhatsApp Beta adds an option to the Privacy menu for authentication via a saved fingerprint. Unfortunately, this function is not actually live yet; however, it clearly indicates that the messaging app's developers will make it available in a future version. Reports suggest that it will be compatible with Android devices with version 6.0 or later and working fingerprint sensors.

At one point, Belkin was the go-to brand for third-party Apple accessories, not to mention USB power banks and cables. However, it had gone quiet for a good while following its amalgamation with Foxconn. This year, Belkin and its current international brands (Linksys, Wemo and Phyn) have made a comeback to CES this year to showcase their new products.

Apple may not be at CES this year; however, that hasn’t stopped them poking fun at other companies who are likely to present at the show. A billboard that was almost certainly commissioned by the Cupertino giant had appeared on an exterior face of the Marriott Hotel in Las Vegas on January 5, 2019. It reads: “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone”, alongside a black-and-white outline of a 2018 Apple flagship mobile device.

Called Dell ExpressSign-in, the laptop will be the first to feature a proximity sensor that can automatically detect when a user is nearby and enable Windows Hello for a hands-free log-in experience.

The G013A - or international Pixel 3 - will get access to a new LTE band with an upcoming software upgrade. Support for this band (48) on the device was approved by the FCC recently, which means Pixel 3s on Verizon will be able to use it soon. This band's recent integration into the commercial carrier spectrum is intended to boost LTE access in the United States.

Back in May 2015, a serious flaw in Chrome for Android that exposed various bits of sensitive information was discovered. This security issue was ignored by Google for more than three years, but now the tech giant is finally taking care of it. Unfortunately, a final fix for this vulnerability is not available yet.

A recent study by Privacy International found that at least 20 Android apps with install bases in excess of 10 million users automatically send user data to Facebook within one second of opening. This data is sent without user knowledge or user consent and ranges from innocuous to personal. This practice obviously raises some questions of legality, although it is difficult to say who is to blame for the violation of user privacy.

Google has updated its Messages app to help identify and block spam. The new feature is starting to find its way to users, although it isn’t clear how far and wide the rollout is at this stage.

Reuters has reported that President Donald Trump might issue an executive order that would effectively ban US companies from using telecommunications hardware from either Huawei or ZTE. Both Chinese companies have faced accusations of sanction-breaking and national concerns over privacy and the possibility of being utilized for state-sponsored espionage. ZTE recently paid a huge fine of US$1.4 billion for not complying with US trade restrictions.

Amazon has revealed in a press release that the company has had a record-breaking holiday season, with products such as the updated Echo Dot and the Fire TV Stick 4K helping drive sales. The press release also described how Alexa has been utilized hundreds of millions of times during the festive period. The major American tech giants have finally had a reprieve at the stock market, making gains as consumer spending turns positive.

Microsoft has issued a patch to fix a day-zero security flaw in Internet Explorer that affected a myriad of versions and systems. The flaw, which affected IE's scripting engine and how it handles memory, could allow attackers to break into a targeted system and assume full control. Attackers could then view and edit data, install programs, and create administrator accounts. Google alerted Microsoft to the vulnerability earlier this month.

Earlier in the year, reports of some party or parties purporting to be Elon Musk in order to bilk Twitter users out of Bitcoin surfaced online. Now, it seems that this tactic is back, in the form of Facebook comments this time. This scheme involves replying to posts under branded names and profile pictures, asking for a certain amount of Bitcoin in return for entry into a competition for much more of the cryptocurrency. So far, The Verge and Bitmain have been reportedly imitated for this scam.

A Forbes reporter had a replica of his own head, made via 3D-printing, commissioned from a company that specializes in the same. He was able to use this object to unlock four Android phones (from different OEMs), but not an iPhone X. This suggests that Face ID remains the more powerful device-security tool.

Microsoft will soon be introducing Windows Sandbox as an optional feature in upcoming builds of Windows 10 19H1. Windows Sandbox offers a secure, isolated, and disposable environment to test out suspicious programs and prevent them from affecting the main OS installation. Windows Sandbox will be offered in Professional and Enterprise SKUs of Windows 10 and does not require any additional addons or VHDs to run.

Yesterday, NASA revealed that a possible compromise of its servers where personally identifiable information was stored has been under investigation since October 23. The servers have been secured since then, but NASA and its cybersecurity partners are still working on determining all the details of the data exfiltration.

More than a decade after its founding, Tumblr has finally reached a critical point and has decided to turn into "a better, more positive" version of itself by banning adult content, including nudity (with some exceptions). The new guidelines will be enforced starting today, but the affected pages will not disappear overnight.

The most recent versions of Windows 10 has an option in settings that apparently prevent the OS sending your activity history to Microsoft. However, HowToGeek has reported that these options may be insufficient in the case of app-history tracking. This information may still be collected unless every relevant privacy setting possible is modified.

A list of the 100 worst passwords of 2018 has been published online, and “123456” and “password” have taken the top two spots. These howlers are closely followed by the equally poor “123456789,” “12345678,” and “12345.” The annual list of the most-used worst passwords is compiled by SplashData, the company that created the SplashID and TeamsID password managers.

Facebook has informed its developers of "a photo API bug" that allowed third-party apps to access photos uploaded to the social media's servers, regardless of whether the user then chose to share these images on their timelines or not. The company has admitted that this new flaw had been in effect for eight days in September 2018 and may have affected as many as 6.8 million users who logged in on those dates.

Sources involved in the investigation of the Marriott/Starwood data breach have revealed that Chinese hackers are believed to be behind the incident. Marriott International announced at the end of November that 500 million customer records had been affected by the hacking activity, which apparently had been ongoing since 2014. Information was taken from the Starwood guest reservation database.

A recent software update to a Google+ API left some data of 52.5 million users exposed and available to app developers. The data included rudimentary user information, including names and birth dates. As a response, Google has moved up Google+'s kill date from August 2019 to April 2019, four months sooner than previously announced.

Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou, has been granted bail at a hearing in a court in Canada on Tuesday (December 11). The executive’s bail has been set at CA$10 million (~US$7.5 million) and she has had to give up her Chinese and Hong Kong passports. In a possible act of retaliation, Chinese officials have detained a Canadian citizen.

It has been reported that the new Sony PlayStation Classic has already been hacked, even though the console has only just been released. Apparently, hackers have been able to run software on the device using a USB flash drive, after discovering that the PlayStation Classic’s security key is on the system itself. The console has been met with a generally lukewarm response so far.

Supermicro has published a letter to its customers to explicitly state that no evidence of tampering was discovered in its hardware during a recent thorough internal review. An article from Bloomberg claimed that Supermicro products had been compromised by Chinese spy chips, which had then affected servers used by companies like Amazon and Apple.

Ever since Google's Chrome browser launched, a large part of internet users have used the browser over competitors such as Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Explorer, and Edge. With the death of Edge and Microsoft's move to a Chromium based browser, Mozilla is warning the world of an impending Google monopoly.

Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou, has appeared in court in Canada today. The high-level executive was at the Supreme Court of British Columbia for her bail hearing where she listened to the reasons behind her recent arrest. American officials want Meng to be extradited to the US to face charges of offenses relating to fraud.

A spokesperson for the Canadian Department of Justice has confirmed the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the current Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Chairwoman of Huawei Technologies. It’s believed Meng was detained by Canadian authorities for possible extradition to the US. Meng Wanzhou, also known as Sabrina Meng, is the daughter of Huawei’s founder and president, Ren Zhengfei.

Since the research team who discovered the SplitSpectre attack used SpiderMonkey 52.7.4 — the JavaScript engine in Firefox — to target both Intel and AMD chips nobody seems to be safe anymore. The attack has been successfully carried out against Intel Haswell, Intel Skylake, and AMD Ryzen processors.

Bitcoin has closed at a price of US$3,964.89 today, keeping the well-known digital currency under the US$4,000 mark. Its value actually dropped to a low of US$3,505 on November 25 but has managed to gain a little over the last few days. However, a market analyst for IG Group has stated that the virtual currency is coming close to a crucial “capitulation moment.”

Dell has published a press release that will be of some concern to customers that use its network. The company suffered from a recent cyber attack, and although the attempted hack was apparently “detected and disrupted” it is possible that some information was stolen. The attack targeted names, emails, and hashed passwords; credit card details were not extracted.

Nine people and two companies in South Korea have been charged with selling Samsung technology to a Chinese rival. It is believed bendable OLED technology, which is expected to be incorporated in the South Korean company’s upcoming foldable smartphone, was included in the criminal exchange. The Chinese company that received the information has not been named.

Launching for users in North America only for now, the Eurocom service promises to update your laptop software, BIOS, anti-virus, operating system, and more for a small fee. A "deep cleaning" of the fans, hinges, and motherboard is also an option even for difficult-to-service laptops.

DriveSavers, one of the world's leading data recovery companies, now offers a service for unlocking smartphones and tablets that have a locked passcode, including iPhones and iPads. DriveSavers claims to be the only company that offers this level of device unlocking and data recovery outside of law enforcement, but the service costs a staggering US$3900.