Archive for October 2016

Are you a Spotify user? If so, you may have been infected. Recently, the company reported that one of its advertising partners had displayed an ad containing malware. As with most software of this type, it wrests control of the user’s browser, opening additional tabs on its own, and directing users to web pages loaded…

Online security has become increasingly important to rank and file users in recent years, and with good reason. 2015 saw the largest number of hacks and successful data breaches in the history of the internet, and 2016 is on track to surpass it. Even worse, it’s not just the number of attacks that are increasing,…

The risks and dangers associated with the Internet of Things continues to grow. Unfortunately, these days, a hacking attack can actually kill. Recently, a researcher uncovered a major security flaw in an insulin pump sold by Johnson and Johnson. The Animas OneTouch insulin pump has a WiFi feature that allows a diabetic patient wearing the…

Did they, or didn’t they? That seems to be the central question surrounding the recent revelation reported by Reuters. According to the news story, Yahoo complied with a Federal government request to track and monitor all incoming messages, forwarding any that contained a certain set of keywords to government agents. If the allegation is true,…

Some credit card companies have begun using selfies as an alternative to traditional, text-based passwords in order to provide enhanced security. No system is perfect, though, and hackers have already begun experimenting with various exploits to the new paradigm. Far and away, the most successful exploit so far has been the Acecard Trojan. This malware…

Back in September, President Obama called the news media out for their complacency. In a year marked by an extremely divisive political campaign, people have lamented the fact that many of the nation’s major news outlets are dealing in false equivalency and spin of one flavor or another. It’s creating a climate of misinformation that…

It was supposed to be a landmark achievement for Samsung, and the start of an era of record-breaking profits. The release of the Note 7 was widely anticipated, and when it hit the shelves back in August, customers flocked to buy the new devices. That’s when the trouble began. The new devices were plagued with…

Researchers at the University of Washington have developed an intriguing new technology that can actually transmit secure password signals through the body, using the fingerprint sensors and touchpads on smartphones and laptops, in what they’re calling “on-body transmission.” The signals are then authenticated when the password-protected devices touch the body. This is fundamentally different from…

There may be some good news where cybercrime is concerned. Increasingly, Americans are beginning to take the threat more seriously. A recently released survey conducted by TransUnion showed an unmistakable increase in awareness, which is a critical first step. Some of the key findings in the report were: • 83% of survey respondents reported being…

Say what you will about Russian hacking group “Fancy Bear,” but they’ve definitely got a sense of style. Fancy Bear is the group widely believed to be responsible for hacking the Democratic National Committee’s servers. Now, authorities believe the group has developed a form Trojan called Komplex, which targets Mac users. Like most other malware,…