hackers

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)

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)

Google is increasing privacy on Chrome with a change to the way it connects users to websites. But businesses will be able to disable the move so they can keep tabs on staff. The change is to the way Chrome connects with Domain Name Servers (DNS), ... which act a little like a telephone directory for the Internet. A DNS takes a website address that a user types into their browser and finds the matching IP address, which identifies the specific connection to the device such as a server (or service) that physically stores the website's files. In the past, the connection between Chrome and a DNS was ... (view more)

A security company says it found a simple way to turn antivirus software into a weapon for attackers. Most major manufacturers have now fixed the problem, but it's a reminder to keep such software updated. The discovery by Rack911 Labs effectively ... meant that a hacker could force the antivirus software to delete files on a computer. That would mean the hacker would need to have gained access to a computer first - whether internally on a network, or remotely using malware. The exploit is based on one of the most fundamental actions of any antivirus software: they scan files, check if they are a ... (view more)

A third-party Android app store has been hit by a big data breach. Aptoide users who registered between 21 July 2016 and 28 January 2018 may be affected. Aptoide works in a same way as Google's own Play app store, but isn't subject to its content ... regulations or security vettings. As with all third-party stores, users must confirm they accept security risks when installing apps from it. A hacker has published data from 20 million users and claims to have details of another 19 million users altogether. That's a big chunk of the 150 million people Aptoide claims have used its service at some ... (view more)

Google has issued a critically important update to its Chrome browser due to a nasty zero day bug. The browser should update automatically for most users, but the bug is serious enough that it's a case of checking to ensure that the update has been ... successfully applied. The update fixes three security problems, one of which is a critical. It means hackers were actively exploiting the problem before Google fixed it - meaning the update process gave users a zero day head start on the bad guys (hence the term, ' zero day exploit '). Perhaps unsurprisingly, Google isn't saying much at all about ... (view more)

The National Security Agency (NSA) has told Microsoft about a major Windows 10 bug which also affects Windows Server 2016 and 2019. A patch is already available and is a must install. For the NSA to tell Microsoft about a Windows vulnerability and ... then discuss it publicly is relatively rare. In the past, the NSA has used such security flaws to take advantage of potential suspects, as part of its surveillance program. In this case, the bug was so serious the NSA seems to have concluded any benefits it could gain itself would be more than wiped out by the threat to the general public (and US ... (view more)

Russian leader Vladmir Putin still uses Windows XP if official photographs are to be believed. Ironically it might actually be a security measure. The photos released by the Russian state news agency show Putin's computers in his Kremlin office and ... his official residence. In both cases the screens are displaying the toolbar and icons from XP, though the default desktop background image is replaced with a picture of the Kremlin. (Source: themoscowtimes.com ) It would certainly be frowned upon (if not entirely shocking) for senior government officials in the West to still be running XP due to ... (view more)

A bug in the way Windows handles fonts could leave computers open to a "drive-by attack" - as long as the machine is connected to the Internet. It's among the vulnerabilities fixed in the latest Windows security update. All versions of Windows are ... affected . The bug involves the way Windows deals with embedded fonts. An embedded font means that the document includes the code for the font itself. It's generally used where a document or web page designer wants users to see a specific font that's not widely installed on computers. The bug means an embedded font could be coded in a way ... (view more)

Google has taken yet another step to try to kill off Adobe Flash. The move will dramatically reduce the visibility of Flash content in its search results. Adobe Flash was once innovative and the primary way for delivering animated and interactive ... content online, including online-based browser games and even advertisements. Even so, many web designers seemed more interested in showing off their creativity with Flash rather than making a usable and useful site. Adobe Flash Security Bugs Severe As far back as 2010, Apple made the decision to ditch Flash entirely from its devices - a move that ... (view more)