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At least 25 global telecommunications companies were compromised in a seven-year attack utilizing Chinese-affiliated threat actor APT10. (Source: ModernDiplomacy)

Chinese-affiliated hackers compromised 25 global telecommunications companies for over 7 years

A leading cyber-security firm has uncovered a brazen Chinese-affiliated 7-year-long attack against telecommunications companies across the globe, compromising Call Detail Records (CDRs) and allowing collection of call meta-data fo...

Douglas Black, 25 Jun 2019 18:18

Hackers attacked NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab via a Raspberry Pi, stole 500 MB of mission data

According to a U.S. Office of Inspector General report published Tuesday, a cyberattack on NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in April 2018 was due to a severe lack of security oversight. The attack was made possible via an unauthor...

Sam Medley, 23 Jun 2019 00:34

Microsoft 365 for Campaigns is a new suite for political campaign security. (Source: Microsoft)

New Microsoft 365 suite offers enterprise-level security for political campaigns

Microsoft 365 for Campaigns is a new service intended to safeguard election campaigns from bad actors of various kinds. It is part of the Redmond company's Defending Democracy Program, and offers enterprise-level security to those...

Deirdre O Donnell, 20 Jun 2019 20:55

Orange and ZTE demo various 5G applications in Spain

Although ZTE is also affected by various bans similar to those imposed by the US on Huawei, this Chinese brand seems to be doing all right in Spain. Yesterday, Orange and its Chinese partner have shown various 5G applications at t...

Codrut Nistor, 20 Jun 2019 10:48

Most valuable Samsung NC10-14GB netbook (Source: Man of Many)

Infect yourself with multiple viruses to increase your net worth — it seems to work with laptops

The Samsung NC10-14GB netbook that was sold at an auction for a staggering US$1,345,000 is a 2008 model that runs Windows XP SP3 and comes loaded with 6 pieces of malware that have caused damages of over US$95 billion, namely ILOV...

Codrut Nistor, 17 Jun 2019 09:26

Huawei has reportedly shipped 1 million phones with its custom HongMeng OS for testing

Despite massive business embargoes levied against it by the United States Government, Huawei seems to be rolling along. The Chinese company has reportedly shipped one million smartphones running its custom HongMeng OS to testers t...

Sam Medley, 11 Jun 2019 16:48

Opinion | An ARM and a leg: What ARM's latest decision may cost Huawei

ARM's recent announcement to cut ties with Huawei may leave the Chinese dragon in a lurch. While Huawei manufactures its own custom processors, they are built on ARM's architecture. Should ARM revoke Huawei's ability to use this a...

Sam Medley, 23 May 2019 17:17

Is Apple's App Store a monopoly? Depends on who you ask

A recent survey run by Blind shed some light on what various tech employees think of Apple and the App Store. Apple's own employees largely believe the company doesn't hold a monopoly on iOS app distribution, but other companies (...

Sam Medley, 22 May 2019 23:56

Massive data breach may have affected millions of Instagram users, including some major influencers

A recently discovered hack has exposed the personal contact information of millions of Instagram users, including some prominent influencers and celebrities. The hackers attacked an Amazon Web Services-hosted database owned by Cht...

Sam Medley, 20 May 2019 23:44

HongMeng OS, Huawei's replacement for Google (Source: Wccftech)

HongMeng OS: This is the name of Huawei's Android replacement

Given the trouble that Huawei has been having lately, it is not surprising to find out that the Chinese giant is already working on a Google Android replacement. Media reports confirm that HongMeng OS is in the trial phase already...

Codrut Nistor, 20 May 2019 21:15

Affected Titan Security Keys have a printed "T1" or "T2" at the bottom (image: Google).

Security flaw found in Google's Titan Security Keys

A flaw discovered in Google's Bluetooth Low Energy Titan Security Keys leaves a hole open for potential attackers. Under certain circumstances and with proper timing, an attacker could potentially hijack the Bluetooth pairing proc...

Sam Medley, 17 May 2019 05:32

Huawei and Samsung end their legal fight in China

Samsung and Huawei bury the hatchet in China

The legal battle between Samsung and Huawei that involves multiple patent infringement cases seems to be finally reaching its end — at least for the time being. After settling their lawsuits in the US earlier this year, the two te...

Codrut Nistor, 15 May 2019 15:49

New ZombieLoad attack can exploit all Intel chips dating back to 2011

A flaw in Intel's modern CPU architectures can be used in a new attack. Dubbed "ZombieLoad," the vulnerability is similar to the Spectre and Meltdown bugs that haunted the PC market last year. ZombieLoad uses a similar flaw in Int...

Sam Medley, 14 May 2019 23:44

HDMI sends a DMCA takedown notice for posting confidential protocol specs. (Source: Computer Cable Store)

GitHubber gets a DMCA takedown notice for archiving 'confidential' HDMI docs

The HDMI Licensing Administrator, Inc. has sent a DMCA takedown notice to GitHubber 'Glenwing' for posting detailed specifications of all versions of the HDMI standard, which are apparently copyrighted and confidential, on his per...

Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 11 May 2019 15:34

Microsoft has developed ElectionGuard in an attempt to make democratic processes more secure. (Source: In.gov)

Microsoft announces new solution to safeguard electronic voting systems

Microsoft has unveiled ElectionGuard, a software development kit (SDK) intended to make e-voting technology more secure. This open-source, encryption-enabled kit is intended to improve the polling systems to which it is applied. I...

Deirdre O Donnell, 09 May 2019 19:16

Respawn has banned over 770,000 Apex Legends players for cheating

Following up on a promise to combat cheating in Apex Legends more than ever, developer Respawn announced in a blot post today that the company has banned over 770,000 players for cheating so far. The company also banned over 4,000...

Sam Medley, 04 May 2019 04:32

Six Android apps on Google's Play Store found to secretively harvest data from users

Six apps from Chinese developer DO Global have been found to secretly collect user data and send it to Chinese servers. While these apps have now been removed, this issue has once again turned a spotlight on a serious privacy prob...

Sam Medley, 27 Apr 2019 03:18

Hero to villain: Security researcher responsible for stopping WannaCry pleads guilty to malicious hacking charges

The security analyst responsible for dismantling the WannaCry malware that crippled tens of thousands of computer systems (including many used in government services) pleaded guilty to two counts of writing malware used in banking...

Sam Medley, 23 Apr 2019 06:18

Criminals using Android are at risk thanks to Google SensorVault (Source: Notebookcheck)

Use an Android phone, commit a crime, Google SensorVault could help police nab you

A new series by the New York Times investigating privacy has uncovered a Google database known internally as SensorVault. Police have been able to access the database to help identify suspects based on their movements recorded in ...

Sanjiv Sathiah, 15 Apr 2019 13:11

Julian Assange after being arrested by the London Metropolitan Police (Image source: Reuters)

The US charges Julian Assange after Ecuador ends his 7-year asylum in its London embassy

Julian Assange has finally been arrested after spending seven years at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The founder of WikiLeaks has been arrested for breaching bail conditions relating to allegations of rape and sexual assault i...

Alex Alderson, 11 Apr 2019 19:42

Purism partners with Private Internet Access to develop a tracker-free VPN for PureOS and Librem 5 smartphone

In a new partnership announced today, Purism and Private Internet Access (PIA) have announced that the companies will develop a specialized VPN service for the Librem 13 and Librem 15 laptops as well as the Librem 5 smartphone. Th...

Sam Medley, 04 Apr 2019 17:00

The free Office Depot PC Health Check allegedly operated in a similar fashion to scareware. (Source: FTC)

PC Health Check scareware allegations cost Office Depot and Support.com US$35 million

Office Depot, Inc. and Support.com, Inc. have agreed to pay a combined total of US$35 million to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after being accused of tricking customers into paying for unnecessary computer repair services....

Daniel R Deakin, 28 Mar 2019 08:49

Asus releases patch to fix Operation ShadowHammer vulnerability in Live Update Utility

In response to the massive media attention around Operation ShadowHammer yesterday, Asus has released a fix for the affected software (Asus Live Update Utility) to patch the security holes used in the attack. The company also rele...

Sam Medley, 26 Mar 2019 21:25

Operation ShadowHammer: Tens of thousands of computers had a security backdoor installed via Asus' Live Update Utility

Kaspersky Labs earlier today wrote about an attack they discovered in January that compromised Asus' Live Update Utility. The attack affected 57,000 Kaspersky customers and may have hit as many as 500,000 computers around the worl...

Sam Medley, 25 Mar 2019 22:55

Not what you'd expect from Nokia. (Source: Yle)

Some Nokia devices have been clandestinely sending user data to China

Some users of the Nokia 7 Plus have reported that their phones are sending data to Chinese servers without permission, a direct violation of GDPR laws. This data includes IMEI's, serial numbers, and location, all of which are cons...

Ricci Rox, 22 Mar 2019 14:59

In plain sight: Hundreds of millions of Facebook user passwords were stored in plain text

Due to a security oversight made by some Facebook employees, certain Facebook apps have been inadvertently logging user passwords as plain text on internal company servers. While still secured against outside intrusion, between 20...

Sam Medley, 21 Mar 2019 22:21

The company hopes the day never comes. (Source: Gizbot)

Huawei confirms that it has built its own proprietary mobile OS...just in case

There have always been rumors that Huawei was working on its own OS. Those have now been confirmed by the company, with Huawei CEO Richard Yu affirming that the Chinese monolith has a working mobile OS all geared up and ready to g...

Ricci Rox, 17 Mar 2019 12:08

OneCoin has been called a get-rich-quick scheme. (Source: Bitcoin Exchange Guide)

Leader of OneCoin cryptocurrency pyramid scheme arrested by US authorities

The US Department of Justice, in conjunction with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, has announced the arrest of Konstantin Ignatov, the so-called “leader” of the supposedly fraudulent OneCoin cryptocu...

Daniel R Deakin, 09 Mar 2019 03:23

Ghidra, the NSA's homegrown decompiler tool, is now open source

Ghidra, the NSA's own reverse-engineering software, is now open source and freely available for download. The Agency voluntarily open-sourced the decompiler in an effort to benefit the cybersecurity community. Ghidra is a software...

Sam Medley, 06 Mar 2019 22:47

The Canadian Department of Justice has authorized the extradition process. (Source: CTV News)

Canada allows extradition proceedings to continue for Huawei CFO

The Canadian government has moved ahead with extradition proceedings in regard to the case of Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Huawei. The executive will be back in court on March 6 to find out the date for her extradition hearing. The ne...

Daniel R Deakin, 02 Mar 2019 08:12

The hacker stole account information from the dating website/app Coffee Meets Bagel. (Source: Coffee Meets Bagel/VentureBeat)

Remember to have protection on Valentine's Day - for your data

A popular dating app, Coffee Meets Bagel, has revealed that it has suffered from a major data breach. Apparently, over 6.1 million accounts were affected by the hacks, which took place in late 2017 and again in May 2018. Coffee Me...

Daniel R Deakin, 15 Feb 2019 02:17

The general copyright strike message found on YouTube. (Image via YouTube)

The Verge issues copyright claims against multiple YouTube videos criticizing its infamous PC build video

Vox Media, the parent company of tech news outlet The Verge, has issued multiple copyright claims on videos criticizing its widely maligned PC building tutorial video. Using YouTube's copyright claim system, Vox lodged copyright s...

Sam Medley, 15 Feb 2019 00:58

Huawei and ZTE are now risking complete bans in the U.S. as well as the European Union. (Source: VOA News)

Trump willing to ban Huawei and ZTE from US networks by end of February

All Chinese communications devices are primed for a complete ban in the U.S. and if Trump gets his way, this could happen before MWC in late February. One of the reasons for this hastened ban is the alleged violation of the Iran s...

Bogdan Solca, 11 Feb 2019 23:13

Red Square - Moscow, Russia, Russia planning to disconnect from the world wide web (Source: World for Travel)

Russia planning to go internet-free, for now as an experiment

Working with all major internet providers in the country, Russian authorities are planning an interesting - and quite disturbing - experiment that involves disconnecting all local users from the internet. The purpose of this exper...

Codrut Nistor, 11 Feb 2019 07:55

Meng Wanzhou and Huawei have faced a total of 23 criminal charges in two separate indictments. (Source: The Straits Times)

US officially charges Huawei and Meng Wanzhou with financial fraud; company also accused of commercial espionage

A 13-count indictment has been announced against Huawei and the company’s CFO, Meng Wanzhou, mostly in relation to fraud. Two of the Chinese manufacturer’s affiliates, Huawei Device USA and Skycom Tech, have also been included in ...

Daniel R Deakin, 29 Jan 2019 01:37

Financier and philantropist George Soros thinks that China's AI push is very dangerous (Source: Wired)

China’s push into AI is very dangerous, thinks George Soros

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 "...

Codrut Nistor, 25 Jan 2019 13:51

Google faces a penalty of €50 million for lack of transparency. (Source: Smart Money Press)

French regulatory body fines Google €50 million for GDPR violations

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 t...

Daniel R Deakin, 21 Jan 2019 22:14

YouTube pranksters have been blindly following Sandra Bullock's character's predicament in Bird Box. (Source: Bluegrass/Netflix)

Dangerous challenges and pranks join porn and hate speech on YouTube's banned list

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 th...

Daniel R Deakin, 16 Jan 2019 23:07

Fortnite is now used for online money laundering via V-Bucks

Fortnite is being used to launder cash

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. Ju...

Codrut Nistor, 15 Jan 2019 16:09

At least 20 popular Android apps are still sending user data to Facebook without consent, study finds

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 kno...

Sam Medley, 31 Dec 2018 17:56

Huawei and ZTE could be facing further commercial bans in the US. (Source: Pocket Now)

Potential executive order could ban US companies from using Huawei or ZTE hardware

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 accusation...

Daniel R Deakin, 28 Dec 2018 01:49

Microsoft issues patch for Internet Explorer vulnerability found by Google

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 b...

Sam Medley, 20 Dec 2018 23:06

NASA server room, NASA servers compromised in October 2018 attack

NASA has been compromised in October, the magnitude of the breach is still unkown

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 cybe...

Codrut Nistor, 19 Dec 2018 09:09

Tumblr guidelines change in-app notification December 17, 2018 no more porn

Looking for porn? You can scratch Tumblr from the list

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...

Codrut Nistor, 17 Dec 2018 11:35

After "password" the next worst whole-word password is "sunshine". (Source: BetaNews)

"123456" and "password" are officially 2018's worst passwords

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...

Daniel R Deakin, 16 Dec 2018 01:43

Qualcomm goes for the throat, asks China to ban sales of iPhone Xs, Xs Max, and XR

Despite winning a victory against Apple earlier this week, Qualcomm is continuing to pressure the iPhone manufacturer in China. Qualcomm is petitioning Chinese courts to expand the ban of iPhone sales to include the iPhone XR, Xs,...

Sam Medley, 14 Dec 2018 21:31

The Starwood hackers used the same cloud hosting service that previous Chinese hackers had used. (Source: TechSpot)

Chinese hackers believed to be behind massive Marriott data breach

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 custome...

Daniel R Deakin, 12 Dec 2018 18:18

Google will kill Google+ sooner due to bug that exposed data of 52.5 million users

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 mov...

Sam Medley, 12 Dec 2018 05:12

Meng's supporters have been protesting outside the British Columbia Supreme Court. (Source: bdnews24)

Huawei's Meng Wanzhou granted bail set at CA$10 million; Chinese officials detain Canadian ex-diplomat

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 ...

Daniel R Deakin, 12 Dec 2018 01:10

The reported tiny Chinese spy chip in question was smaller than a pencil tip. (Source: Debuglies via Bloomberg)

No Chinese spy chips found in Supermicro internal investigation

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 produc...

Daniel R Deakin, 11 Dec 2018 20:03