ComputerWorld – Page 166 – Computer Security Articles

Credit to Author: Darlene Storm| Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2017 08:54:00 -0700

Oh good, another case of exploding devices. This time the culprit was a Fitbit Flex 2, which allegedly caused second-degree burns on a Wisconsin woman’s arm. She was sitting and reading a book when her Fitbit “exploded” on her wrist. “It was either defective or really mad I was sitting still so long,” she told ABC News. “Either way, it burned the heck out of my arm.”

Dina Mitchell claimed the Fitbit is “totally melted” and her doctor “had to pick pieces of plastic out of her wound.”

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April 26, 2017 admin

Old Windows Server machines can still fend off hacks. Here's how

Credit to Author: Michael Kan| Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2017 04:01:00 -0700

If you’re running a Windows Server 2003 machine, you have a problem. Your already-vulnerable computer is now at severe risk of being hacked.

That’s due to the internet release earlier this month of a batch of updates that paint a bull’s-eye on computers running Windows Server 2003, according to security researchers.

“I can teach my mom how to use some of these exploits,” said Jake Williams, founder of Rendition Infosec, a security provider. “They are not very complicated at all.”

Experts are urging affected businesses to upgrade to the latest Windows OSes, which offer security patches that can address the threat.

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ComputerWorld Independent

April 25, 2017 admin

How your company needs to train workers in cybersecurity

Credit to Author: Matt Hamblen| Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2017 09:21:00 -0700

With workplace cyberattacks on the rise, industry experts are pressing businesses to train their workers to be more vigilant than ever to protect passwords and sensitive data and to recognize threats.

“It is imperative for organizations of all sizes to instill among employees the critical role they play in keeping their workplace safe and secure,” said Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance, a group that promotes education on the safe and secure use of the internet. The group’s members include such major technology companies as Cisco, Facebook, Google, Intel and Microsoft.

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ComputerWorld Independent

April 24, 2017 admin

Customers roast Microsoft over security bulletins' demise

Credit to Author: Gregg Keizer| Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2017 11:49:00 -0700

When Microsoft asked customers last week for feedback on the portal that just replaced the decades-long practice of delivering detailed security bulletins, it got an earful from unhappy users.

“Hate hate hate the new security bulletin format. HATE,” emphasized Janelle 322 in a support forum where Microsoft urged customers to post thoughts on the change. “I now have to manually transcribe this information to my spreadsheet to disseminate to my customers. You have just added 8 hours to my workload. Thanks for nothing.”

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ComputerWorld Independent

April 24, 2017 admin

Researchers remotely kill the engine of a moving car by hacking vulnerable car dongle

Credit to Author: Darlene Storm| Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2017 09:54:00 -0700

Israeli firm Argus Cyber Security recently reported that it had been able to remotely “take control of a car via Bluetooth” thanks to vulnerabilities in the Bosch Drivelog Connect OBD-II dongle.

While the hack wouldn’t affect 90 percent of cars and produce an army of “zombie cars” like was pulled off by cyber-terrorist Cipher (Charlize Theron) in the eighth installment of the Fast and Furious series, Argus researchers were able to remotely kill the engine of a moving car.

Famed car-hacker Charlie Miller isn’t too worried about a Fate of the Furious type of car hacking at this point. Bad guys remotely taking control of cars by hacking may currently be something we only see done in the movies, but the CIA was interested in hacking cars for what WikiLeaks claimed could be used to pull off “nearly undetectable assassinations.”

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ComputerWorld Independent

April 24, 2017 admin

Russian man receives longest-ever prison sentence in the U.S. for hacking

Credit to Author: Lucian Constantin| Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2017 08:17:00 -0700

A 32-year-old Russian hacker was sentenced to 27 years in prison in the U.S. for stealing millions of payment card details from businesses by infecting their point-of-sale systems with malware.

The sentence is the longest ever handed out in the U.S. for computer crimes, surpassing the 20-year jail term imposed on American hacker and former U.S. Secret Service informant Albert Gonzalez in 2010 for similar credit card theft activities.

Roman Valeryevich Seleznev, a Russian citizen from Vladivostok, was sentenced Friday in the Western District of Washington after he was found guilty in August of 10 counts of wire fraud, eight counts of intentional damage to a protected computer, nine counts of obtaining information from a protected computer, nine counts of possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

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ComputerWorld Independent

April 24, 2017 admin

Russian man receives longest-ever prison sentence in the US for hacking

Credit to Author: Lucian Constantin| Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2017 08:17:00 -0700

A 32-year-old Russian hacker was sentenced to 27 years in prison in the U.S. for stealing millions of payment card details from businesses by infecting their point-of-sale systems with malware.

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