Google publishes its Android Security & Privacy 2018 Year in Review
Google has published its fifth Android Security & Privacy Year in Review, this time looking back at 2018. While the report draws attention to some of the security and privacy improvements the company has made, it is not just about Google blowing its own trumpet.
The report shows that payouts made through Google rewards programs -- payments made to outside researchers and individuals for bringing security issues to the company's attention -- reached $3 million in 2018. Google also says that in the fourth quarter of the year, 84 percent more devices received a security update than in the same quarter in 2017.
Russia orders NordVPN, ExpressVPN, HideMyAss and other VPNs to block numerous sites
VPNs are frequently used by people to increase security, improve privacy, to browse the internet as if in another country, and to bypass restrictions put in place by ISPs and governments. Aware of this, authorities in Russia have ordered ten big-name VPNs to block access to various sites banned in the country.
Among those to have been contacted by the authorities are NordVPN, ExpressVPN, IPVanish, HideMyAss and TorGuard. At least one of these VPN providers has decided to pull out of Russia.
Privacy for the win! Startpage.com defeats Google and Bing to become best search engine
Google may be the world's most popular search engine, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is the best. Don't forget, Google is notorious for tracking users and logging search activity. Not to mention, there are many other search engines out there, such as Microsoft's Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo to name a few.
Believe it or not, a lesser-known search engine, Startpage.com, has defeated Google (and all others) to become the search champion! You see, following an in-depth investigation, German organization "Stiftung Warentest" has declared the search engine to be the best. Not familiar with that organization? Please know, it is similar to Consumer Reports in the USA. So yeah, this is a big deal. And yes, Startpage.com also defeated fellow privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo.
More than half of internet users think complete digital privacy is impossible
According to a report from Kaspersky Lab, 56 percent of internet users feel that complete privacy in the modern digital world is impossible.
For many people, their worries about digital privacy may come from personal experience. Kaspersky's research finds that 26 percent of people have had their private data accessed by someone without their consent, rising to almost a third (31 percent) among 16- to 24-year-olds.
Panic Button secures data -- by destroying it
One of the biggest worries about someone gaining unauthorized access to your computer is that they can view and steal your data.
The CyberYozh security group has launched a product that protects your sensitive files, browser data and more, by taking the nuclear option of destroying it.
Opera for Android now includes a free and unlimited VPN
Opera has added a free VPN service to the Android version of its mobile web browser. Opera 51's newly-added VPN is not only free from charges, it is also free from limitations.
The feature has been added as the Norwegian software developer seeks to improve the security and privacy of web browsing for its users. The company says that it "marks a new standard for privacy and security in mobile browsing".
A fifth of Americans don't trust anyone to protect their data
Around 20 percent of Americans suffer from security fatigue and don’t trust anyone to protect their personal data according to a new study.
The research from hardware security company nCipher Security reveals that many people want more control over their personal data privacy and most want tighter controls on how others handle and safeguard their personal data.
Zippyshare mysteriously blocked in the UK
The Zippyshare file hosting service is currently blocked for users in the UK. Anyone visiting the site will be presented with a '403: Forbidden' message when they try to access the site.
Users on a number of ISP forums are asking whether this is due to some blocking action on the part of service providers, but it appears that for some reason the site is blocking itself from UK IP addresses.
Google adds privacy-focused DuckDuckGo search engine to Chrome
Update to Chrome 73 and you might be in for a bit of a shock. With absolutely no fanfare whatsoever, Google has added DuckDuckGo to the list of search engines available in its web browser.
In fact, the company has updated the default list of search engines it offers in over 60 markets, but it is the addition of privacy-focused DuckDuckGo that comes as the most welcome surprise.
Pahahaha! Zuckerberg outlines his, *snort*, privacy-focused vision for Facebook and social networking hahahaha!
Social networking in general, and Facebook in particular, is far from synonymous with the notion of privacy. Facebook makes occasional nods to granting users greater control over their privacy, but at the end of the day, data about users is what makes Mark Zuckerberg's company tick.
But setting out his vision for the future in a blog post, the Facebook founder has set out his "vision and principles around building a privacy-focused messaging and social networking platform". We'd already heard about plans to merge the messaging platforms WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger, this is central to his vision of the future. He has bold ideas of encryption and ephemerality playing a large part in increasing privacy, but Facebook will still have to overcome the issue of user trust.
If you've added your phone number to Facebook for 2FA security, it can be used to search for you
Facebook has been encouraging users to enable two-factor authentication to boost the security of their accounts, but it turns out that there's a slightly sinister side to this feature.
You may well have opted to maintain an element of privacy by omitting personal information such as your address and phone number from your profile. But if you've used your mobile number to secure your account with 2FA, even if it is not visible to others, it can still be used to search for you -- and there is no way to opt out of this.
Serious Amazon Ring vulnerability leaves audio and video feeds open to interception and spoofing
Security researchers from Dojo by Bullguard have discovered a vulnerability in Amazon's Ring doorbell that leaves it prone to man-in-the-middle attacks.
As well as enabling a hacker to access audio and video feeds in a severe violation of both privacy and security, the vulnerability also means that an attacker could replace a feed with footage of their own. Revealing the security flaw at Mobile World Congress, Yossi Atias from Dojo, demonstrated how a feed could be hijacked and injected with counterfeit video.
Facebook to launch its Clear History tool later this year -- to the joy of privacy advocates and the pain of advertisers
Facebook is no stranger to privacy-related controversy, and to try to counter some of this the social network announced in the middle of last year that it planned to give users a "clear history" feature.
Although first talked about in May, no progress has been visible on this front, but Facebook's CFO, David Wehner, has now said that the feature will be launching later this year. This is good news for users, but bad news for advertisers. Facebook says that the feature will make it harder to target ads.
Privacy: Facebook closes controversial Onavo VPN and ceases user data collection
Following the scandal surrounding the collection of user data, Facebook has removed its Onavo VPN app from the Google Play Store -- a full six months after the iOS version of the Facebook Research app was kicked out of the App Store by Apple.
Facebook will also be ending its controversial paid data collection program which saw the company paying people for access to information about their device and internet usage. The app will continue to function as a VPN -- minus the questionable privacy invasion -- for a little while to give users the chance to seek out an alternative, but it will ultimately close down completely.
83 percent of US organizations have accidentally exposed sensitive data
According to a new survey 83 percent of security professionals believe that employees have accidentally exposed sensitive customer or business data at their organization.
The study from data protection specialist Egress also finds that accidental data breaches are often compounded by a failure to encrypt data prior to it being shared -- both internally and externally.
Recent Headlines
BetaNews, your source for breaking tech news, reviews, and in-depth reporting since 1998.
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. About Us - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy - Sitemap.