Ransomware is proliferating across America, disabling computer systems of corporations, city governments, schools and police departments. Recently, attackers seeking millions of dollars encrypted the files of 22 Texas municipalities. Overlooked in the ransomware spree is the role of an industry that is both fueling and benefiting from it: insurance. The FBI and security researchers say paying ransoms contributes to the profitability and spread of cybercrime More »
A server with databases holding the phone numbers and identity numbers of perhaps as many as 200 million Facebook users in the U.S., the U.K. and other countries has been found open on the Internet by a security researcher. No one knows who the database belongs to, how or when it was copied from Facebook, according to TechCrunch, which first reported the discovery Wednesday. A total More »
Apple has apologized for its digital assistant Siri sharing some of what it heard with quality control workers as it unveiled new rules for handling data from conversations. Apple will allow its employees to review conversations only from customers who opt into the “Siri grading” program to improve the voice recognition technology. Apple will also delete by default any recordings used for the program. “We More »
Companies that experience a data breach can expect to lose 20% of their sales revenue forever, according to a new study. PCI Pal PLC, a firm out of the United Kingdom specializing in secure payment solutions, surveyed 2,200 Canadian consumers. Of those surveyed 78% said they would stop spending money with a company that mishandled their data, and 58% indicated a willingness to stop spending More »
Concerned about being hacked? Now you have to worry about outer space? NASA is reportedly investigating what’s said to be the first ever instance of a space crime. According to a report by The New York Times, the space organization is currently looking into a claim that astronaut Anne McClain improperly accessed the bank account of her estranged spouse Summer Worden while aboard the International More »
Users of Kaspersky Antivirus products should note the software does something that can help hackers track you. When you go to a web page Kaspersky adds a unique identifying number to the page to see if it’s on a list of suspicious and phishing web addresses. However, a security researcher says that could allow you to be tracked. Notified of the problem, last month Kaspersky updated it More »
The bad guys are now exploiting news of the CapitalOne breach to push a malicious backdoor trojan via a phishing email purporting to offer a Windows Security Update. See the attached example email. Clicking the link in that email downloads a file named KB3085604.exe — obviously named to resemble Microsoft patch files and security updates. The phishing email itself spoofs the targeted those working in organizations that occasionally ask More »
A fourth U.S. city is getting ready to ban local government from using facial recognition technology. The city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is considering an order that will require the city council’s approval prior to the acquisition or deployment of certain surveillance tech. This includes facial recognition. Gizmodo reports. Councillors feel this helps bring the city closer to banning the use of the tech altogether. The news More »
As a penetration tester Joshua Crumbaugh, who now heads the Alabama-based security awareness training firm PeopleSec, says employees are the real block to improving digital security. “I would argue 100 per cent of breaches are the result of people,” he told the International Cyber Security and Intelligence Conference Wednesday. In fact in an interview he argued the overwhelming amount of an organization’s cyber spending should go to More »
Trending on social media is a story that may chill you to the bone. Indian news channel Zee News has reported that a married couple may have found themselves exposed to the world all thanks to their smart TV. The man discovered a video of him and his wife engaged in an intimate moment on a porn site. After contacting cyber security experts, the conclusion More »