Archive for September 2016

The story of the fall of the hacker going by the alias “Track2” is an absolutely riveting one. Track2, whose real name is Roman Valerevich Seleznev, is a thirty-one year old from Russia. His criminal enterprise thrived from 2009 to 2013, when it was finally shut down, but unfortunately not before he did a considerable…

If you’re a Mac user who downloads files using the torrent software called “Transmission,” you may want to check your machine for signs of infection. It was recently discovered that a malicious copy of the torrent software had found its way onto Transmission’s website, which is where most people go to download the client. As…

There have been papers written and demonstrations conducted in recent months to show how it’s possible to wirelessly log your keystrokes. All of those demonstrations have relied upon specialized gear you can make using off-the-shelf components, but given that requirement, it limits the pool of hackers with the technical skills to pull it off. Recently,…

If you’re one of the millions of Dropbox users around the world, you were probably mildly annoyed recently when you logged on to find that you were being forced to change your password on that system. It’s one part of the company’s response to a data breach that dates back to 2012. In 2012, the…

Opera does not have anything that could be described as a commanding share of the web browser market, but as one of oldest and best loved browsers in existence, the company still commands respect, and has a collection of die-hard fans, supporters and users. In the years since releasing their first browser, the company has…

Shaun Treacy, the President of MHR (Millennium Hotels and Resorts) North America, has recently sent a communication to guests who stayed at some of the company’s locations between March and June of 2016. In his letter, he warns that an unnamed form of malware was discovered on some of the company’s Point of Sale systems,…

An interesting and disturbing new form of Ransomware was on display at this year’s Def Con convention, in Las Vegas. So far as anyone knows, this is the first, proof of concept ransomware that targets smart thermostats. Yes, you read that correctly. The new ransomware is specifically designed to target smart thermostats. Various security experts…

Much has been written in previous months about the explosion in growth of the (IOT) Internet of Things, and the security risks posed by that growth. Where PCs, laptops, and smartphones all have fairly robust security measures in place to prevent hackers from gaining easy access, the same cannot be said of the growing legion…

In some important ways, the media has a tendency to distort the reality where hacking and data breaches are concerned. The stories that tend to make the headlines are the external breaches that see hackers making off with tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of customer records. They’re good stories. They get clicks…

Although a number of tech companies have been working hard to create new and ever more robust security and authentication protocols, a recent survey revealed that the American public in general remains highly skeptical of the new procedures, and only a tiny fraction of the population actually employs them. The survey results reveal that more…