John Lister

Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic are considering laws to tighten cyber security for the so-called Internet of Things (IoT). The rules would cover devices that aren't traditional computers or phones but still connect to the Internet. The ... United States Congress is considering the Internet of Things Cyber Security Improvement Act. It's been examined by a Senate committee and is currently awaiting a date to be examined by the Senate as a whole. However, there's no guarantee it will be heard before the end of the year and newly elected or re-elected Senators taking their seats. Agency To ... (view more)

A new strain of Android malware targets both social media accounts and online banking. It's a reminder of the risks of installing software from outside of the official Google Play store. The malware is dubbed BlackRock and appears to ultimately ... derive from the code used in an attack called LokiBot. Now thought to be inactive, LokiBot attempted to gain access to financial accounts through banking and related apps. One technique involved using automated scripts to login to a PayPal account and transfer money to the scammers. (Source: threatfabric.com ) BlackRock looks to take the same tactics ... (view more)

Microsoft is testing a new Windows 10 security measure that could neutralize a malware technique. It's called Kernel Data Protection and will protect part of a computer's memory from tampering. The idea is to protect two key software parts of a ... computer: the operating system kernel and drivers. The kernel is the most central part of a system and acts a little like a central command point, deciding what the computer does at any precise moment. Meanwhile, drivers control the way the operating system communicates and interacts with hardware devices. Within the computer's memory, the kernel is ... (view more)

An email with a "winky face" for a subject line has helped a malware campaign become one of the most widespread in the world. It's a scam to expand the reach of the Phorpiex botnet which distributes spam and malware from infected machines to others ... online the Internet. According to researchers at security company Check Point, Phorpiex jumped from the 13th most detected malware campaign in May to the number two slot last month. It reports that one in 50 organizations suffered at least one attempted breach from Phorpiex last month. (Source: zdnet.com ) Ransomware, Botnets and Blackmail The ... (view more)

Windows 7 computers running the Zoom videoconferencing tool are at risk from a "zero day" vulnerability. It's a reminder of the dangers of an outdated operating system. The problem will be fixed in a patch by Zoom itself rather than from Microsoft. ... Microsoft dropped support for Windows 7 on January 14 this year, meaning it doesn't offer security updates or fix any bugs. A zero day vulnerability is one that is known by somebody other than the developer or manufacturer before a fix is ready. In effect, the developers have "zero days" of head start distributing the fix before people can start ... (view more)

Two years ago Facebook commissioned an audit on its effect on civil rights. The results are in, and they don't make for pretty reading. The report makes a series of suggestions for Facebook to change its policies, but the company says it won't ... implement all of them. Arguably the most damaging conclusion in the report is that Facebook isn't just hosting extremist views and hatred, but that its very setup may actually be encouraging and boosting such material. The biggest criticism is that Facebook's own algorithms may have pushed users towards "self-reinforcing echo chambers of extremism." The ... (view more)

Microsoft has unveiled the latest batch of changes coming to Windows 10. Most are usability improvements, though fans of the Control Panel might be concerned. The changes come in the latest release in the Windows Insider Dev Channel. That's ... recommend only for the most technically confident users and is the first place that new features and changes are tested by people outside of Microsoft itself. One change had already leaked, namely the appearance of the tiles in the Start menu. They will now be partially transparent and will reflect the user's choice of a light or dark theme, the idea being ... (view more)

Microsoft has delayed the latest major Windows 10 Update for some users. The various workarounds aren't ideal, so affected users will probably need to be patient. The problem affects the May 2020 Update, taking Windows 10 to version 2004. It's the ... first of this year's scheduled two major updates that includes new features. Microsoft has previously blocked updates for some specific computers where it knows there will be a significant compatibility problem with hardware. This particular block appears more generic, with the affected users seeing an error message reading: This PC can ... (view more)

Google has removed 25 malicious Android apps which tried to steal user Facebook logins. As always, it's worth checking devices to see if these apps are installed, because they won't automatically uninstall from phones even being ousted from the Play ... Store. This particular batch of apps didn't have a common subject, but each promised to carry out a basic function, including: a flashlight, file cleaner, or card game. Hidden deep inside each app was malicious software that ran behind the scenes. The malware came alive each time an app was opened on the phone, specifically checking to see if the ... (view more)

Current news floating around the Internet suggests that Windows 10 has developed a couple of bugs likely linked to recent updates, namely: slowed performance and confusing security scan messages. The good news is both problems can be solved to some ... extent. One problem is with update KB4559309 , which replaces the original version of Microsoft's Edge browser with a new version based on the same code behind Google Chrome. Details are still hazy, but some users have reported general slowdowns after the update regardless of whether they use Edge. This can affect apps, games and web pages. The ... (view more)