Linux vulnerability lets 'anyone in the world' hijack Internet traffic
Security researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have uncovered a major Linux vulnerability that enables hackers to hijack Internet traffic which, if exploited, can be used to intercept communications, launch targeted attacks, and lower Tor's anonymity. The vulnerability impacts iterations of the open-source kernel released in the past four years.
The security researchers believe that this security issue "affects a wide range of devices and hosts" -- the open-source kernel is well known for powering a significant number of servers and being at the heart of Android, the most popular mobile operating system today. The vulnerability was introduced in a TCP specification that is found in Linux versions starting with 3.6, which was released in September 2012.
Predictive risk technology helps fight phishing
Phishing attacks are on the increase and are becoming increasingly sophisticated. This means that older technologies such as blacklisting known phishing sites are struggling to keep up with the threat. The Anti Phishing Working Group detected a 250 percent jump in phishing sites between October 2015 and March 2016.
Fraud protection company Easy Solutions is helping to combat the problem with the public beta launch of its Swordphish predictive phishing and malware risk assessment technology.
Moon Express gets FAA 'approval' for Moon mission
Last week Moon Express, a contender for the Google Lunar X-Prize (GLXP), announced that the company had received interagency approval from the White House, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of State and other U.S. government agencies "for a maiden flight of its robotic spacecraft onto the Moon’s surface to make the first private landing on the Moon".
This heady announcement got a lot of press including this story I am linking to because it was in the New York Times, the USA’s so-called pape of record. If the Times writes "gets approval to put robotic lander on the Moon" it must be true. Only this story isn’t true. Yes, the FAA kinda-sorta gave Moon Express permission to land on the Moon. But by the same token, the FAA has no power to deny Moon Express -- or anyone -- the right to land on the Moon. It’s not in their jurisdiction.
Samsung Pay vulnerability can enable fraudulent payments
During the recent Defcon hacking conference, held last week in Paris, a hacker demonstrated how he could make fraudulent payments through Samsung Pay.
Samsung says it knew of this and considers it an acceptable risk. It claims the method is almost too difficult to pull off, and no different than fraud methods we see today with credit cards.
Over half of security pros say cloud vendors shouldn't give governments data access
There are a number of concerns that companies have over migrating to the cloud, but one of the key ones is who else might have access to the data.
Cloud security company Bitglass has released the results of its latest Mitigating Cloud Risks survey in conjunction with the Cloud Security Alliance, which shows that potential government access to encrypted data is an issue.
Fast analytics for the Federal Government
Each day, executives in Federal agencies and departments balance the public’s growing need for services with budget discipline -- "doing more with less". They rely on predictive analytics and machine learning to make government work better, ensuring tax compliance, enforcing the law, detecting fraudulent claims, and understanding public needs.
The most demanding analytics work is often ad-hoc and time-sensitive, and requires an ability to scale up quickly. Consider the following scenarios:
SecureAuth launches training program to cut security skills gap
Shortage of skills is one of the main reasons businesses give for not achieving their objectives according to Gartner and this is especially true in the cybersecurity field.
Access control specialist SecureAuth is aiming to address this with the launch of its SecureAuth University, a continuing education program for customers, partners and employees.
Microsoft creates Secure Boot backdoor, leaks golden keys
Microsoft has created a backdoor in Secure Boot, the security feature designed to ensure that a device can only run the operating system that it is meant to. And, to make matters worse, it has just accidentally leaked the "golden keys" needed to bypass it.
The Secure Boot backdoor is there to, for instance, allow a Microsoft developer to install a new build of Windows on a device -- that has the security feature enforced -- without it having to be digitally signed beforehand. It makes their job easy, but it also makes the security system ineffective if -- when -- the golden keys that unlock it make their way into the wrong hands.
Wmail is a cross-platform desktop client for Gmail
Wmail is an open-source Chromium-based Gmail client for Windows, OS X and Linux. The program supports both Gmail and Google Inbox accounts, and you can add and manage as many as you need.
You could do this with a browser, of course, but Wmail gives you much improved support for drag and drop and keyboard shortcuts, as well as providing native desktop notifications when a new message arrives.
EaseUS launches a big software giveaway to celebrate its twelfth birthday
EaseUS makes some excellent Windows software, including tools for recovering lost data, backing up your system and files, managing disk space, and more.
It offers both free and paid editions and, from today, to celebrate the company’s 12th birthday, you’ll be able to get your hands on some of its best paid software, for free.
Encrypt and secure your DNS traffic with Simple DNSCrypt
Protecting your web traffic can be very easy: use HTTPS where you can, maybe install HTTPS everywhere to enforce that, use a VPN for an extra layer of security. Meanwhile DNS gets so little attention that many people don’t even realize there’s an issue, even though DNS eavesdropping and spoofing are very real security concerns.
DNSCrypt is an open-source technology from the OpenDNS team which encrypts your DNS traffic, making it much more difficult for others to snoop on your activities or hijack your browsing with man-in-the-middle attacks.
Most smart car vulnerabilities can be easily exploited
Remember that cyber-experiment when a couple of hackers managed to take control over a speeding car in the middle of the highway?
Well, IOActive has published a study, entitled Commonalities in Vehicle Vulnerabilities, after three years of testing, and the results are quite scary.
Logitech Pop Home Switch is brilliantly simple
Connected-home technology and the Internet of Things are poised to explode in popularity over the next several years. My, how far humanity has come -- having our refrigerators, thermostats, and door locks connected to the internet. Huzzah! All joking aside, it is actually exciting stuff, folks.
Today, Logitech announces a very curious home device. Simply called "Pop", it is a switch, that when pressed, can perform an action. Actually, each switch can do three actions, depending on how the user interacts with it. It is looking like Logitech has hit a home-run with Pop.
Intel buys machine learning startup Nervana
Intel is buying machine learning start-up Nervana, and it’s paying some serious money for it. According to multiple media sources, the 48-person start-up was acquired for a stunning $408 million (£312m).
Nervana is an artificial intelligence company which is looking to integrate AI beyond the usual software -- it wants to squeeze it into the chips themselves. And who better to team up with to achieve that goal than Intel -- one of the biggest chipmakers in the world.
Data loss and theft is on the rise
There has been a "sharp increase" in the number of lost and stolen corporate data in the past two years, according to a new report by the Ponemon Institute and Varonis Systems. But it’s not as straightforward as you’d think.
The new report, titled Closing Security Gaps to Protect Corporate Data: A Study of U.S. and European Organisations, says that 76 percent of respondents experienced either data loss, or theft, in the past 24 months.
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