Dell has released its Security Annual Threat Report, taking a detailed look into the IT security landscape of 2015, as well as predicting a few trends for the ongoing year.
The report is based on "Dell SonicWALL Global Response Intelligence Defense (GRID) network with daily feeds from more than one million firewalls and tens of millions of connected endpoints, Dell SonicWALL network traffic and other industry sources".
According to new research over 90 percent of Android devices are running an out of date version of the OS. In addition, 32 percent of those in use in enterprises today are running version 4.0 or older of the operating system, leaving them highly susceptible to vulnerabilities like Stagefright.
The study by cloud based access provider Duo Security analyzed data from its installed base of over a million mobile devices. It reveals that the problem isn't just with Android, only 20 percent of iPhones run the latest Apple operating system version, iOS 9.2. Outdated iOS devices have well-known vulnerabilities such as Ins0mnia and Quicksand that make these devices susceptible to attacks.
One would think that those attending a big technology show would be among the more savvy tech users, but sometimes they are the ones who maybe think they are above the fray and forget about the multitude of things that can go wrong whenever you are online.
To illustrate this problem, security firm Avast took a trip to Barcelona, where the Mobile World Congress show is underway. Much of the flow of people entering the airport were there to attend the show, though likely some tourists and business travelers were in the mix as well.
In the UK, ISPs are required to block access to a number of big-name torrent sites -- the thinking being that sites such as The Pirate Bay are used primarily for (gasp!) downloading pirated material. Despite the government's desire to control what people can access online, good old HTTPS means that people are able to very easily bypass any blocks that may be put in place.
There are all manner of proxy services and mirror sites that provide access to otherwise-blocked content, but these are really not needed. With the likes of The Pirate Bay and Kickass Torrents offering secure, encrypted connection, accessing the goodies they contain could involve little more than sticking an extra 's' in the URL.
A mobile data breach could cost a large enterprise over $25 million (£18 million) according to a new report.
The study of security and IT leaders in Global 2000 companies, carried out by mobile security specialist Lookout and the Ponemon Institute, examines the risk introduced by employees accessing increasing amounts of corporate data via their mobile devices.
For most of us, our mobile and personal devices have become extensions of our lives and even bodies. Most of us carry our smartphones with us all the time, and when we can’t find them, we feel lost.
We are essentially always on, always connected to the Internet. This notion of anytime, anywhere access has extended not only to our personal lives but also our professional.
A new Android banking Trojan is now bypassing Google Play security measures -- the Acecard Trojan is capable of attacking users of nearly 50 different online financial applications and services.
During the last quarter of 2015 researchers at Kaspersky Lab detected an unusual increase in the number of mobile banking attacks in Australia. The suspicious activity was discovered to be the result of a single banking Trojan called Acecard.
DDoS attacks are one of the most worrying threats that enterprises face. Chinese hardware company Huawei and security specialist Nexusguard are launching a new joint solution that offers enterprises and internet service providers state-of-the-art DDoS protection using software-defined networking (SDN).
The companies will combine Nexusguard's cloud-enabled Origin Protection and Huawei's DDoS Protection System Appliances, giving customers low latency and multi-layered protection that can accurately and quickly defend their systems with hybrid implementations.
Linux Mint is one of the best distos around, but if you’ve installed it recently you might have done so using a compromised ISO image.
The Linux Mint team today reveals that hackers made a modified Linux Mint ISO with a backdoor in it, and managed to hack the Mint website so it pointed to this bad version.
You may look at the DVR as that box that records your TV shows and perhaps even allows you to skip the commercials. But there is more to it than just that. Users can also record video from their home surveillance cameras and replay the clips if something happens. A lot of that data is stored in the cloud -- with some systems it is completely yours with a hardware DVR needed.
In use as a home recording device the DVR is also known as CCTV, closed-circuit television. There are quite a number of them in use all over the world, many in homes and some in businesses. It seems like a good idea for security, but things aren't always what they seem.
A researcher from Google Project Zero discovered a serious security issue with the technical support tools supplied with Comodo software products. Tavis Ormandy found that Comodo Antivirus, Comodo Firewall, and Comodo Internet Security all included a bundled VNC server with either no password protection, or a very weak password.
GeekBuddy is a remote desktop tool used by support staff to troubleshoot customer problems, but it also serves as a backdoor that allows for near-unrestricted access to users' computers. The tool installs with full admin rights, meaning that an attacker could very easily gain complete control of a remote computer.
Apple is standing fast on its decision not to help -- publicly, at least -- the FBI to gain access to the iPhone owned by Syed Farook, one of the San Bernardino terrorists. In the latest twist in the saga, Apple has revealed that the password for the Apple ID associated with the phone was changed whilst Farook was in custody.
Apple says that this closes off another route to accessing the data the FBI seeks. Had the password not been changed, the company says, it may have been possible to retrieve backup data without the need to create a backdoor into the suspect's phone. Meanwhile, wading in to the Apple/FBI debate with all of the elegance of an epileptic elephant, serial buffoon Donald Trump has called for a boycott of Apple products -- despite tweeting from an iPhone himself.
At Mobile World Congress (MWC) tides will start to turn. There won’t be an overnight revolution powered by shiny new gadgets, but technologies we’ve seen evolving over recent years will start to demonstrate their real potential.
We expect to see five major technology themes come to the fore in Barcelona this year:
Listen to Tim Cook and you’d be forgiven for thinking that Apple was standing up for the little guy, sticking up for the likes of you and I in fighting the FBI. The FBI, Apple would have you believe, wants Apple to break encryption, thereby weakening security for everyone. But that's not really the case at all.
The FBI has not asked for encryption to be broken; it wants access to data on the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, and it wants to do so by using the (as yet unknown) PIN that has been used to lock it. Get it wrong too many times and the device is wiped. The FBI wants custom firmware to be made available that would allow it to brute force the PIN. It's nothing to do with cracking encryption, but that's not what Apple wants you to believe. It's an exercise in misdirection and a classic straw man argument. The problem is, if the straw man goes up in flames, will Apple too?
The US courts say Apple should help the FBI access the contents of an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters, but Apple is refusing, on the grounds that it doesn’t want to erode the security of Apple customers.
I’m personally on Apple’s side, as is my colleague Joe Wilcox, but Donald Trump wants Apple to use "common sense" and open its phone up, while John McAfee is claiming he can help the FBI unlock Apple’s device within "three weeks", primarily through the use of social engineering. The FBI for its part says it doesn’t want Apple to create a backdoor in all iPhones, just unlock the one belonging to the killer.