Security Tools – Page 7 – Computer Security Articles

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2018 22:59:39 +0000

Instagram users should soon have more secure options for protecting their accounts against Internet bad guys. On Tuesday, the Facebook-owned social network said it is in the process of rolling out support for third-party authentication apps. Unfortunately, this welcome new security offering does nothing to block Instagram account takeovers when thieves manage to hijack a target’s mobile phone number — an increasingly common crime.

Independent Krebs

August 1, 2018 admin

Reddit Breach Highlights Limits of SMS-Based Authentication

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2018 00:55:17 +0000

Reddit.com today disclosed that a data breach exposed some internal data, as well as email addresses and passwords for some Reddit users. As Web site breaches go, this one doesn’t seem too severe. What’s interesting about the incident is that it showcases once again why relying on mobile text messages (SMS) for two-factor authentication (2FA) can lull companies and end users into a false sense of security.

Independent Krebs

July 23, 2018 admin

Google: Security Keys Neutralized Employee Phishing

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2018 11:34:38 +0000

Google has not had any of its 85,000+ employees successfully phished on their work-related accounts since early 2017, when it began requiring all employees to use physical Security Keys in place of passwords and one-time codes, the company told KrebsOnSecurity.

Independent Krebs

June 28, 2018 admin

Plant Your Flag, Mark Your Territory

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2018 17:50:26 +0000

Many people, particularly older folks, proudly declare they avoid using the Web to manage various accounts tied to their personal and financial data — from utilities and mobile phones to retirement benefits and online banking services. The reasoning behind this strategy is as simple as it is alluring: What’s not put online can’t be hacked. But increasingly, adherents to this mantra are finding out the hard way that if you don’t plant your flag online, fraudsters and identity thieves may do it for you.

Independent Krebs

June 13, 2018 admin

Librarian Sues Equifax Over 2017 Data Breach, Wins $600

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2018 20:14:40 +0000

In the days following revelations last September that big-three consumer credit bureau Equifax had been hacked and relieved of personal data on nearly 150 million people, many Americans no doubt felt resigned and powerless to control their information. But not Jessamyn West. The 49-year-old librarian from a tiny town in Vermont took Equifax to court. And now she’s celebrating a small but symbolic victory after a small claims court awarded her $600 in damages stemming from the 2017 breach.

Independent Krebs

May 28, 2018 admin

FBI: Kindly Reboot Your Router Now, Please

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Mon, 28 May 2018 18:54:22 +0000

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is warning that a new malware threat has rapidly infected more than a half-million consumer devices. To help arrest the spread of the malware, the FBI and security firms are urging home Internet users to reboot routers and network-attached storage devices made by a range of technology manufacturers.

Independent Krebs

May 14, 2018 admin

Detecting Cloned Cards at the ATM, Register

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Mon, 14 May 2018 15:24:38 +0000

Much of the fraud involving counterfeit credit, ATM debit and retail gift cards relies on the ability of thieves to use cheap, widely available hardware to encode stolen data onto any card’s magnetic stripe. But new research suggests retailers and ATM operators could reliably detect counterfeit cards using a simple technology that flags cards which appear to have been altered by such tools.

Independent Krebs

May 8, 2018 admin

Microsoft Patch Tuesday, May 2018 Edition

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Tue, 08 May 2018 20:38:16 +0000

Microsoft today released a bundle of security updates to fix at least 67 holes in its various Windows operating systems and related software, including one dangerous flaw that Microsoft warns is actively being exploited. Meanwhile, as it usually does on Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday — the second Tuesday of each month — Adobe has a new Flash Player update that addresses a single but critical security weakness. First, the Flash Tuesday update, which brings Flash Player to v. 29.0.0.171. Some (present company included) would argue that Flash Player is in itself “a single but critical security weakness.” Nevertheless, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer/Edge ship with their own versions of Flash, which get updated automatically when new versions of these browsers are made available.