Category: Security

Security

How to avoid heartburn, err, Heartbleed

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. BY SEAN BUCKLEY Don’t change your password. It’s strange advice to hear when the so-called Heartbleed bugis leaving databases all over the web open and exposed, but it’s applicable. Yes, security has been compromised for many of your favorite websites and services (including Google, Flickr and Steam, at least initially) but protecting yourself isn’t quite as easy as changing your password. Unlike past exploits, Heartbleed isn’t a database leak or a list of plaintext logins; it’s a flaw…

Continue reading

Culture Legal Security

White House has had legal talks with Samsung about that presidential selfie

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. BY TIMOTHY J. SEPPALA It isn’t quite the selfie-retweeted-’round-the-world, but that hasn’t stopped the White House from answering questions about David Ortiz’s impromptu snapshot with the president. Obama’s senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer made an appearance on Face the Nation to talk about serious matters like the state of the Affordable Healthcare Act, but didn’t shy away from host Bob Schieffer’s questions about the above picture (those start around the 5:47 mark). Pfeiffer said that the president didn’t…

Continue reading

Culture Security

Leaked documents detail how and why NSA targets network admins

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. BY TIMOTHY J. SEPPALA With the amount of NSA-related information that’s been leaked to the press, one may wonder if the feds will have anything new to share whenever the agency’s firsttransparency report releases. The latest info is that the NSA was targeting foreign network administrators to gain access to the networks they control, as late as 2012.Edward Snowden gave The Intercept a handful of screengrabs from an internal agency message board that, among other things, detail how…

Continue reading

Military Security

‘Acoustic cloak’ could shield submarines with a cone of silence

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. BY STEVE DENT We’ve seen some overly elaborate invisibility cloaks in our day, but Duke engineers have shown that lo-fi may be best for audio. After much refinement, they’ve developed a shield that can hide objects from sound waves thanks to a highly engineered pyramid shape and carefully placed holes. The stacked layers retard sound coming from any angle, so that it appears to have bounced off a flat wall when picked up by a detector…

Continue reading

Apple Security

Apple explains how the iPhone’s fingerprint sensor keeps your info secure

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. BY JON FINGAS If you’ve ever wanted to know how the iPhone 5s’ Touch ID fingerprint security works beyond a basic overview, you’ll be glad to hear Apple has just delivered a motherlode of new details. An updated version of its iOS Security white paper (PDF) explains much of what happens to your finger data after you touch the sensor. In short, your information may be more hack-resistant than it seems at…

Continue reading

Hardware Dev Health Security

The i’m Tracer bracelet means never having to ask ‘where’s the kid?’

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. BY CHRIS VELAZCO The kooky folks behind the (frankly awful) i’m Watch are a mainstay at Mobile World Congress. This year they’ve got something a little more useful to show off: it’s called the i’m Tracer, and it’s the evolution of another GPS tracker the company has highlighted before. The Tracer is a wearable mashup of a GPS module and a GSM radio the Italian company hopes will help you keep tabs on your kids when it…

Continue reading

Humor Security

In Russia, Bathroom Mirror Watches You!

By admin | by admin

As reported on TechCrunch.  by Gregory Ferenstein In Russia, spying on visitors is so pervasive, authorities don’t even seem realize that watching someone shower is cause for alarm. During a press meeting on the Winter Olympics, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak claimed that Western journalists were deliberately sabotaging the hotel facilities. As evidence, he said authorities had seen guests leave the water running in the shower. Yes, you read that right. Here’s the full report from the Wall…

Continue reading

Culture Security

PSA: Missed Call From A Mystery Number? Be Careful.

By admin | by admin

As reported on TechCrunch. by Greg Kumparak The people who read our site are a pretty savvy lot. You know not to accept checks from distant princes. You can spot a phisher from a mile away. But here’s one that might be new for you: scammers are apparently trying to exploit your “missed call” screen, now. The scam, simplified: They call you, but immediately hang up. You see a missed call. You call back. They charge you for the…

Continue reading

Government Internet Security

If You Used This Secure Webmail Site, the FBI Has Your Inbox

By admin | by admin

As reported on Wired. BY KEVIN POULSEN Photo: Peter Earl McCollough/WIRED   While investigating a hosting company known for sheltering child porn last year the FBI incidentally seized the entire e-mail database of a popular anonymous webmail service called TorMail. Now the FBI is tapping that vast trove of e-mail in unrelated investigations. The bureau’s data windfall, seized from a company called Freedom Hosting, surfaced in court papers last week when prosecutors indicted a Florida man…

Continue reading

Android Application Security

Android app learns from your phone to fend off malicious attacks

By admin | by admin

As reported on Engadget. BY CHRIS VELAZCO  The last time we heard from Itzhak ‘zuk’ Avraham, he was at Defcon 2011 showing offan Android app that let even inexperienced users poke around networks for weak links and vulnerable computers. Now his company, Zimperium, is rolling out a new mobile intrusion protection app (or zIPS, for short) to help users figure out when their phones are subject to sneak attacks. There’s no shortage of mobile antivirus apps out…

Continue reading