ComputerWorld – Page 45 – Computer Security Articles

Credit to Author: Jonny Evans| Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2022 09:43:00 -0800

Every time Apple attempts to inject a little more privacy into the digital world, it faces pushback – but the evidence suggests opponents would be better off going along for the ride.

A bigger business with more privacy

Take Do Not Track for ads and the move to quash IDFA tracking in iOS 14. When Apple first announced its plan, critics across the ad industry complained it would damage their business.

Apple counter-argued that it would simply inspire advertisers to think more creatively about how to reach customers — while also providing more privacy to those customers.

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ComputerWorld Independent

February 2, 2022 admin

Microsoft touts first PCs to ship natively with secure Pluton chip

Credit to Author: Lucas Mearian| Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2022 03:00:00 -0800

As organizations continue to wrestle with how to manage a hybrid workforce, security outside the corporate firewall continues to play a huge role in day-to-day IT operations.

Following the October release of Windows 11, which boasted features aimed at enabling hybrid work, Microsoft last week announced the first PCs with its Pluton chip-to-cloud security technology. The technology is aimed at securing the computers of remote workers and others.

At CES, Microsoft announced that Lenovo and chipmaker AMD have launched the first laptops — the ThinkPad Z13 and ThankPad Z16 — that come natively with the Pluton security chips. Pricing for the ThinkPad Z13 starts at $1,549, pricing for the ThinkPad Z16 starts at $2,099. Both laptops will be available in May and Lenovo said there is no additional cost associated with the Pluton chip inside.

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ComputerWorld Independent

February 2, 2022 admin

Google finds a nation-state level of attacks on iPhone

Credit to Author: Evan Schuman| Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2022 03:31:00 -0800

When it comes to mobile security, users are routinely warned to be extremely careful, avoid suspicious links, emails, and attachments. But the growth of no-click attacks sidesteps these soft defenses.

Google recently drilled into one such attack, which happened to have hit an iPhone. “We assess this to be one of the most technically sophisticated exploits we’ve ever seen, further demonstrating that the capabilities (one vendor) provides rival those previously thought to be accessible to only a handful of nation states,” said the Google advisory.

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ComputerWorld Independent

February 2, 2022 admin

Windows security in ’22 — you need more than just antivirus software

Credit to Author: Susan Bradley| Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2022 06:10:00 -0800

Do you need antivirus in 2022 — especially when some options now come with a cryptominer built in?

Several antivirus vendors — some options free, others, paid — have begun bundling their antivirus products with software that generates virtual currency. Of all of the requirements for antivirus, using excess cycles on your computer to generate crypto-coins is not on my list of must-haves.

Recently, Krebs on Security noted that both Norton Antivirus and Avira have told users that versions of their respective software now include a cryptominer. While it’s not enabled by default, it still gives me pause; antivirus is supposed to protect us from such potentially unwanted software, and these two vendors are now including it in their wares.

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ComputerWorld Independent

February 2, 2022 admin

Apple is sneaking around its own privacy policy — and will regret it

Credit to Author: Evan Schuman| Date: Fri, 07 Jan 2022 03:04:00 -0800

Apple has a rather complicated relationship with privacy, which it always points to as a differentiator with Google. But delivering on it is a different tale.

Much of this involves the definition of privacy. Fortunately for Apple’s marketing people, “privacy” is the ultimate undefinable term because every user views it differently. If you ask a 60-year-old man in Chicago what he considers to be private, you’ll get a very different answer than if you asked a 19-year-old woman in Los Angeles. Outside the US, privacy definitions vary even more. Germans and Canadians truly value privacy, but even they don’t agree on what they personally consider private.

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ComputerWorld Independent

February 2, 2022 admin

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint brings remote deployment to iOS

Credit to Author: Jonny Evans| Date: Thu, 06 Jan 2022 07:45:00 -0800

With the latest Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) preview for iOS, Microsoft has taken another step that should make life easier for IT administrators who need to secure remote iOS devices at the endpoint.

Endpoint protection without the user friction

The MDE preview includes a new capability to install Defender for Endpoint remotely and automatically on any devices enrolled in the service. The company first announced its intention to deliver the feature last month.

In practice, this seems relatively friction-free.

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ComputerWorld Independent

February 2, 2022 admin

7 smart steps to get your Android phone in tip-top shape for 2022

Credit to Author: JR Raphael| Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2022 03:00:00 -0800

Happy New Year! I don’t know about you, but I find the start of a fresh voyage around this shiny ol’ sun of ours to be a fine time for tidying up, optimizing, and getting good and organized for the months ahead. And while I’d love to pretend I’m the type of person who has one of those disgustingly pristine, clutter-free desks you see on the internet, let me be brutally honest: The physical space around me tends to resemble a half-abandoned hog parlor.

But my Android phone? My Android phone is as orderly as can be, gosh darn it. And if you ask me, that makes far more of a difference than the state of the physical space around me.

Our mobile devices are where we do so much of our actual work and contemplation these days, after all — and yet it’s all too easy to overlook the importance of maintaining an optimal arrangement for both productivity and security within ’em. So now, as we gaze ahead at the promise-filled 2022 calendar, join me in taking 10 minutes to get your own trusty Android phone fine-tuned and fully ready for the coming year.

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