ComputerWorld – Page 152 – Computer Security Articles

Credit to Author: Darlene Storm| Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2017 08:05:00 -0700

Update for iOS 10.3.2

Apple still has not patched the hole allowing you to bypass the iPhone lock screen. As of iOS 10.3.2 (and the 10.3.3 beta), you can still trick Siri into getting into a person’s iPhone.

It works like this:

Press the home button using a finger not associated with your fingerprint authentication, prompting Siri to wake up.
Say to Siri: Cellular data.

Siri will then open the cellular data settings where you can turn off cellular data.

Anyone can do this—it doesn’t have to be the person who “trained” Siri.

By also turning off Wi-Fi, you cut off her connectivity access. You will get an error saying, “Siri not available. You are not connected to the internet.” But you don’t care about that error because you have already bypassed the iPhone lock screen.

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ComputerWorld Independent

July 11, 2017 admin

Linux group pushes out production-ready blockchain collaboration software

Credit to Author: Lucas Mearian| Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2017 08:01:00 -0700

The Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger project announced today the availability of Fabric 1.0, a collaboration tool for building blockchain distributed ledger business networks such as smart contract technology.

The Hyperledger project, a collaborative cross-industry effort created to advance blockchain technology, said the Hyperledger Fabric framework can be a foundation for developing blockchain applications, products or customized business solutions

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ComputerWorld Independent

July 10, 2017 admin

Kill it! Kill Windows XP now!

Credit to Author: Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols| Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2017 04:20:00 -0700

The headline — “HMS Queen Elizabeth is ‘running outdated Windows XP’, raising cyber attack fears” — was startling, but wrong. The United Kingdom’s newest aircraft carrier wasn’t running Windows XP. But some of the contractors that built the warship were.

The U.S. Navy, meanwhile, has been purchasing Windows XP support, at least through this year, so odds are our military still has XP systems running to this very day.

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ComputerWorld Independent

July 10, 2017 admin

With Patch Tuesday imminent, make sure you have Automatic Update turned off

Credit to Author: Woody Leonhard| Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2017 04:17:00 -0700

In case you hadn’t noticed, Microsoft has had a tough time with patches this year. From a total lack of patches in February (except for a late IE patch), to yanked and reissued botched patches that followed, to a jumble of problems with Windows and Office patches — including seven admitted bugs in last month’s Office patches — Microsoft has proved itself adept at Jack-in-the-box patching. You don’t have to join the legions of unpaid patch beta testers.

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ComputerWorld Independent

July 10, 2017 admin

Unclear on the concept, plastic edition

Credit to Author: Sharky| Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2017 03:00:00 -0700

This IT pilot fish tries to practice good data security in his personal life as well as on the job — but that doesn’t always work out.

“My wife was going to charge some travel expenses on my credit card during her break at work,” says fish. “So as not to give up my card for the day, I wrote the number, expiration date and security code on a piece of paper.

“As I wrote the 16 digits out, I realized that she was taking this piece of paper to work, and who knows who might see it or what might happen if she were to throw it out? So instead of writing the last four digits, I wrote “xxxx,” and texted them to her instead.

“I thought I had done a decent job in protecting my credit card information — until later that morning, when she texted me saying that there was an issue with one of the charges. Would I mind calling, since she was unable? No problem, I responded. Can you send me the number to call?

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ComputerWorld Independent

July 6, 2017 admin

Microsoft releases 15 Office patches for July, but some June bugs still stink

Credit to Author: Woody Leonhard| Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2017 07:23:00 -0700

On Patch Wednesday of this week, Microsoft said it released 14 non-security Office updates, covering such fascinating topics as improved Dutch translations in Word 2013, Danish translations in Access, and Finnish and Swedish translations in Excel. Typical first Tuesday stuff.

Microsoft neglected to mention that it also shipped a fix for the bugs introduced by last month’s patches to Outlook 2010. Dubbed KB 4011042, the neglected fix appears to be a non-security patch that fixes bugs created by a security patch — a red flag for many advanced patchers.

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ComputerWorld Independent

July 6, 2017 admin

The ancient Microsoft networking protocol at the core of the latest global malware attack

Credit to Author: Preston Gralla| Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2017 03:20:00 -0700

Another day, another global malware attack made possible by a Microsoft security hole. Once again, attackers used hacking tools developed by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), which were stolen and subsequently released by a group called Shadow Brokers.

This time around, though, the late-June attack apparently wasn’t ransomware with which the attackers hoped to make a killing. Instead, as The New York Times noted, it was likely an attack by Russia on Ukraine on the eve of a holiday celebrating the Ukrainian constitution, which was written after Ukraine broke away from Russia. According to the Times, the attack froze “computers in Ukrainian hospitals, supermarkets, and even the systems for radiation monitoring at the old Chernobyl nuclear plant.” After that, it spread worldwide. The rest of the world was nothing more than collateral damage.

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ComputerWorld Independent

June 30, 2017 admin

The paranoid Mac traveler’s 10-point data protection checklist

Credit to Author: Richard Hoffman| Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2017 03:01:00 -0700

Here’s an increasingly common scenario: You’re on a business trip, either entering a foreign country or returning home. As you go through customs, a border-control agent asks you to turn on and hand over your iPhone, then starts poking around, looking at your text messages, call logs and apps. The agent then asks you to wake your MacBook, log into your social media accounts and open your email. After the agent reads your tweets and posts for a few minutes, your phone and laptop are taken “for further inspection” — and returned some time later.

Alternatively, the equivalent of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in a foreign country declares that all laptops on international flights must be put in checked baggage — a scenario only narrowly averted a few weeks ago. Your company laptop is properly checked in, but when you arrive at your destination, you discover that not only has your bag been searched, but your laptop appears to have been opened and powered on.

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