ComputerWorld – Page 82 – Computer Security Articles

April 16, 2019 admin

Win7/8.1/Server patch conflicts abated, somewhat, but it’s still too early to install the April crop

Credit to Author: Woody Leonhard| Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2019 08:02:00 -0700

A week ago, Microsoft released six patches that brought many machines to their knees. As I explained last Friday, when the dust cleared, it was apparent that all six of these April patches:

Win7 and Server 2008 R2 Monthly Rollup (KB 4493472) and Security-only (KB 4493448) patches
Win8.1 and Server 2012 R2 Monthly Rollup (KB 4493446) and Security-only (KB 4493467) patches
Server 2012 Monthly Rollup (KB 4493451) and Security-only (KB 4493450 ) patches

would trigger blue screens on reboot on most systems running Sophos antivirus products, and many systems running AV products from Avast and Avira.

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ComputerWorld Independent

April 15, 2019 admin

Google, Hyperledger launch online identity management tools

Credit to Author: Lucas Mearian| Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2019 03:00:00 -0700

In two separate announcements last week, Google and Linux’s Hyperledger project launched tools aimed at enabling secure identity management for enterprises via mobile and other devices.

Google unveiled five upgrades to its BeyondCorp cloud enterprise security service that enables identity and access management for employees, corporate partners, and customers.

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ComputerWorld Independent

April 10, 2019 admin

You Can Now Get This Award-Winning VPN For Just $1/month

Credit to Author: DealPost Team| Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2019 12:33:00 -0700

If you use the internet (which you clearly do), you likely know how important it is to protect your data in an increasingly dangerous cyber environment. But like other essential tasks that tend to be tedious (like filing taxes early and brushing your teeth for the full two minutes), most installing and running a VPN can sound unappealing to many: sure, they encrypt your internet traffic and hide your location — but they can also run frustratingly slowly, delaying the way you’d usually use the internet for entertainment and work.

That’s where Ivacy VPN is different: not only will the speedy service let you browse and stream lag-free, it also offers real-time threat detection technology, removing malware and viruses at the server level. It ensures that all your downloads and devices stay totally secure, so you can stay safe online without being inconvenienced.

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ComputerWorld Independent

April 5, 2019 admin

Massive bank app security holes: You might want to go back to that money under the mattress tactic

Credit to Author: Evan Schuman| Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2019 10:24:00 -0700

A new report from a well-regarded payments consulting firm has found a lengthy list of security insanity while examining several major fintech company mobile apps. Although the very nature of apps that manage and move money would suggest presumably strong security, banks and their cohorts tend to adopt new technology slower than almost any other vertical, which puts them in a bad place when it comes to security.

My favorite finding from the Aite Group report: “Several mobile banking apps hard-coded private certificates and API keys into their apps. [Thieves] could exploit this by copying the private certificates to their computers and running any number of free password-cracking programs against them,” the report noted. “Should the [attackers] successfully crack the private key, they would be able to decrypt all communication between the back-end servers and mobile devices, among other things. The API keys allow an adversary to then begin targeting the [financial institution’s] API servers, gaining them access to data in the back-end databases. This allows [attackers] to authenticate the device with the back-end servers of that app, since this is what APIs use for authentication and authorization.”

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ComputerWorld Independent

April 1, 2019 admin

Microsoft Patch Alert: Most March patches look good

Credit to Author: Woody Leonhard| Date: Mon, 01 Apr 2019 16:04:00 -0700

March was an unusually light patching month – all of Office only had one security patch – and there don’t appear to be any immediate patching worries. Just as in the past few months, Microsoft’s holding off on its second cumulative update for Windows 10 1809, raising hopes that it’s taking Win10 quality more seriously.

Win10 1809 deployment proceeded at a positively lethargic rate, even though Microsoft declared the OS fit for business consumption last week, leading to all sorts of speculation about the next-next update, Win10 version 1903, ultimately overtaking its younger sibling.

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 29, 2019 admin

With its Apple Card, Apple edges further into financial services

Credit to Author: Lucas Mearian| Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2019 03:00:00 -0700

Apple’s Monday announcement of a credit card – the Apple Card – represented a natural progression of the company’s journey into financial services that began with the Apple Wallet app and its contactless digital payment service, Apple Pay.

apple card iphonexs entertainment 032519 carousel.jpg.medium 2x

The Apple Card, as described by the company this week, will offer users some attractive features: up to 3% cash back on daily purchases, no late or international transaction fees, and a physical chipped card make of titanium (sans any credit card numbers – just your name and an Apple symbol).

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 26, 2019 admin

Microsoft connects rival browsers to Windows 10's Application Guard

Credit to Author: Gregg Keizer| Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2019 03:00:00 -0700

Microsoft earlier this month released a pair of add-ons for Google’s Chrome and Mozilla’s Firefox to cobble together an unwieldy connection between those browsers, Edge and Windows 10’s advanced security technology, Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG).

The debut of the browser extensions – separate add-ons for Chrome and Firefox – was quietly plugged at the end of a March 15 blog post relating a recent Windows Insider build. That build, 18358, will lead, presumably next month, to Windows 10’s next feature upgrade, labeled 1903 and also Windows 10 April 2019 Update.

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 25, 2019 admin

ASUS Live Update Utility cracked, installs ShadowHammer backdoor on 1M PCs, but only 600 targeted

Credit to Author: Woody Leonhard| Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2019 09:28:00 -0700

Great way to wake up on Monday morning, especially if you own an ASUS machine.

Kaspersky just published a teaser for a more thorough explanation to come in two weeks at the Kaspersky Security Analysts Summit in Singapore. It’s quite an eye-opener.

Apparently somebody broke into the ASUS update servers, and swapped out a valid software/firmware update with one of their own. The bogus update looked like the genuine thing, with a valid certificate, and its size matched the original’s size. As a result, the bad update stayed on ASUS’s servers “for a long time.”

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