Security

Squirrels pose more of a threat to infrastructure than cyber terrorists - or, at least that's what one researcher's project implies. Cris Thomas says he found nearly five million people have been affected by power cuts caused by animals since 2013. ... According to Thomas, that's vastly more damaging than deliberate human actions to disrupt power and communications networks. The surprising claim came at a security conference in Washington and attracted attention given many speeches at such events concentrate on the actions of human hackers, terrorists and state governments in ... (view more)

Stolen Yahoo account details could be changing hands for as little as three-hundredths of a cent according to security researchers. It follows a hack of more than a billion accounts. It's the second Yahoo breach reported this year. Back in September ... the news broke that details of more than 500,000 accounts had been accessed by hackers in 2014. Now Yahoo has confirmed a separate attack in 2013 involved the theft of data for more than a billion accounts, something security experts believe makes it a record breach. It's suggested that the stolen data includes email addresses and passwords, ... (view more)

A new form of ransomware offers victims the chance to escape the release fee by fooling two friends into paying up instead. A security expert likened it to a malware version of a pyramid scheme. Traditionally ransomware involves malware getting onto ... a computer and then encrypting all files, with an on-screen message demanding the victim pay a fee to regain access. It's unknown what proportion of people pay up, but some big organizations such as hospitals and police forces are known to have paid the fee in the past, rather than lose sensitive data or access to control systems. The new ... (view more)

Bogus Android apps have helped hackers seize control of more than a million Google accounts in the past few months according to a security company. The apps have also been posting fake online reviews in the names of victims. The attack involves ... malware that's been dubbed "Gooligan." It's particularly concerning because of the sheer amount of personal data a hacker could theoretically access if they can use somebody's Google accounts, such as their email messages and any files stored on Google Docs and Drive. The malware affects devices running versions 4 and 5 of the ... (view more)

Hackers had an unexpected deal for San Francisco passengers on Black Friday: free journeys thanks to a ransomware attack. Officials were forced to suspend charging on the Municipal Railway system after hackers took control of payment computers. ... While the problem has now been fixed, it's not known if officials paid up a reported $73,000 ransom to regain access. The hackers manipulated the computer systems so that screens did not allow customer interaction and instead displayed a message reading "You Hacked, ALL Data Encrypted. Contact For Key ( cryptom27@yandex.com )ID:681, Enter. ... (view more)

Security researchers say hackers could turn people's headphones into a microphone for surreptitious remote listening. However, the method has enough limitations that it shouldn't be a major concern for most users. The method, shown off by ... researchers at Ben Guiron University in Israel, takes advantage of a very simple element of engineering. That is that the process by which a microphone turns speech into an electronic signal is effectively the same as that by which earphones turn a speaker into sound, just with the process reversed. According to the researchers, that's a security ... (view more)

A Harvard lecturer has warned Congress that only government regulations can prevent serious consequences from security attacks on the "Internet of Things." Bruce Schneier says there's little market incentive for buyers or sellers to fix a problem, ... should a problem arise. The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the growing number of devices that can now be connected to the Internet, making them "smart devices". Rather than just computers and phones, the Internet of Things covers everything from thermostats to cars, often with the Internet connection allowing users remote ... (view more)

Some cheaply made Android phones are reportedly sending copies of text messages to a Chinese source every 72 hours. The official explanation is that international customers have unintentionally received handsets with a "feature" designed for Chinese ... users. A security firm named Kryptowire made the discovery. It found that hidden software preinstalled in phones was contacting a Chinese server every three days and passing on details including contacts lists and call logs. The software also sent back daily updates with the full content of text messages and location data. (Source: ... (view more)

Microsoft has criticized Google for revealing details of what the search giant has dubbed a "critical" security flaw in Windows. The two companies dispute whether Google gave Microsoft enough time to fix the problem before going public. The ... controversy lies in the fact that Microsoft has yet to release a fix for the problem and has not even said if one exists. The bug applies to 32-bit editions of Windows and allows an unauthorized local privilege escalation. The effect is to undermine a security feature known as " sandboxing ," which is designed so that if a hacker ... (view more)

Microsoft has warned that scammers are trying to trick users with a fake "Blue Screen of Death" error message. The idea is to fool users into calling a bogus 1-800 tech support hotline. The Blue Screen of Death is an unofficial name given to a ... particular type of error message which appears when a Windows computer suffers a serious malfunction. In most cases, once the screen appears the only option is to reboot the computer, usually by switching it off with a physical power button or by resetting the machine with a reset button (if it is available). The idea of the screen is to give ... (view more)