access

Facebook's parent company has been fined the equivalent of $100 million for storing user passwords in plain text. Failing to encrypt the passwords breached Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Meta, which runs Facebook and Instagram, ... broke the rules despite there being no evidence that anyone accessed the passwords without authorization or that anyone was then able to access accounts. Delay In Coming Clean The company was found to have breached the GDPR on four counts. Two involved failing to adequately secure personal data, one involved not properly documenting these failures ... (view more)

Windows users will soon be able to access files on their Android phone or tablet without a USB cable. The feature is already available in test editions of Windows 11. The feature, first reported back in June, has now arrived for members of the ... Windows Insider Program, which gives early access to in-development and test features. They will also need to install the "Cross device experience host" tool from the Microsoft store. Windows does already offer some wireless connectivity with Android phones such as using it as a webcam or getting on-screen notifications from the phone replicated on the ... (view more)

Most popular mobile apps request system permissions that aren't necessary for their stated functions, according to a new study. In some cases, an app requested more unnecessary functions than necessary ones. The figures come from NordVPN, which ... examined the five most popular apps in 18 common categories. They repeated the exercise for both Android and iOS, making a combined total of 103 different apps. (Source: nordvpn.com ) Both mobile operating systems now use a permissions system that means apps must request specific permission for different types of access to a phone's data and components ... (view more)

The average ransomware attack now takes less than a day from first breaching a system. It's the first time average attacks can be measured in hours, though ironically it may be a sign of better defenses. The figures comes from researchers at ... Secureworks, who analyze ransomware attacks. They measure dwell time, which is the period between an attacker first gaining access to a system and deploying the ransomware. That's malware which encrypts files, letting the attackers demand a fee to restore access. The average dwell time being under a day is a dramatic development as last year the average ... (view more)

An increasingly prevalent method of seizing control over an individual's iPhone and permanently locking them out of the device is causing concern. As outlined in a recent report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), certain iPhone thieves are exploiting ... a security feature called the recovery key. This technique makes it exceedingly difficult for owners to access their photos, messages, and other data. Disturbingly, some victims have reported unauthorized access to their financial apps, resulting in drained bank accounts. (Source: wsj.com ) How the iPhone Recovery Key Exploit Works It's important ... (view more)

A new form of computer memory has won an award for innovation. UltraRAM combines the performance of ordinary computer memory with the long-term storage of flash. Most memory in a computer is DRAM (dynamic random access memory). This holds data that ... the computer processor is most likely to need to access imminently. It's a little like having paper documents on a desktop rather than in a filing cabinet: the cabinet has much more room, but it takes some time to walk to the cabinet to get the information, versus having it right on the desktop. One of the key drawbacks of DRAM is that it stores ... (view more)

Microsoft has accidentally leaked a tool that lets users try out every new feature that's in development. It's grabbed the attention of tech enthusiasts but is very much not a good idea for the average user. The tool came to light when Microsoft ... promoted an event called "Bug Bash". Normally that's an internal "all hands on deck" process where developers are told to hold off their normal work for a set period and instead concentrate solely on finding bugs in software. Microsoft opened this process up to members of the Windows Insider program that lets the public access in-development version ... (view more)

Google will stop some of its employees accessing the Internet. It's a bold experiment to see if it can reduce security threats without affecting performance. The idea is reduce the risk of hackers getting access to employee machines, either to get ... hold of data on those machines or to use them as an entry point into Google's network. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Google's internal data is particularly attractive to attackers, whether they are seeking financial gain, political or commercial advantage, or plain old mischief making. For example, attackers being able to find out how Google ranks ... (view more)

Amazon has agreed to pay a total of $30 million in penalties for privacy violations related to its Ring and Alexa devices, according to an announcement by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The penalties consist of $25 million for allegedly ... retaining children's data without deletion and $5.8 million for failing to limit employee and contractor access to Ring security videos. (Source: cnet.com ) The settlements do not require Amazon to make any admission of legal wrongdoing. (Source: theguardian.com ) Amazon Accused of Retaining Kid's Data The FTC accused Amazon of preventing parents from ... (view more)

Governments in 35 countries imposed complete blackouts of the Internet at some point in 2022 according to a new report. It's the highest figure in the seven years that "digital rights group" Access Now has been compiling data. Perhaps surprisingly, ... China only had one Internet shutdown, while Russia had just two. That's slightly misleading as Russian forces imposed 22 shutdowns in parts of Ukraine during the ongoing war. (Source: accessnow.org ) The country with the most blackouts (for the fifth straight year) was India, with 84. That's a hugely controversial topic as officials say the ... (view more)