ComputerWorld – Page 97 – Computer Security Articles

Credit to Author: Sharky| Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2018 03:00:00 -0700

Pilot fish returns from an extended holiday weekend to find his inbox full of spam — and for once, dozens of the messages seem to be related.

“I was curious, so I didn’t delete all 50 of them right away,” says fish. “The first one was obviously spam — a ‘Hi, do you remember me, can we talk?’ message with a phishing link.

“But the first reply was from an autoresponder at a legal-services company: Thank you for your email. You have reached the email inbox for… Please let us know if you have any questions.“

The next message is from another autoresponder, replying not to the spam but to the first autoresponder: Thank you for contacting us. This is an automated response confirming the receipt of your ticket. Our team will get back to you as soon as possible.

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ComputerWorld Independent

September 20, 2018 admin

Microsoft Patch Alert: Despite weird timing, September’s Windows and Office patches look good

Credit to Author: Woody Leonhard| Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2018 08:40:00 -0700

As we near the end of patching’s “C Week” (which is to say, the week that contains the third Tuesday of the month), there are no show-stopping bugs in the Windows and Office patches and just a few gotchas. As long as you avoid Microsoft’s patches for Intel’s Meltdown/Spectre bugs, you should be in good shape.

Why a Patch Monday?

On Sept. 17, Microsoft released two very-out-of-band cumulative updates for Windows 10:

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ComputerWorld Independent

September 18, 2018 admin

Why Windows 10 is the most secure Windows ever

Credit to Author: Fahmida Y. Rashid| Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2018 14:40:00 -0700

Three years after its debut, Windows 10 is poised to overtake Windows 7 as the most popular version of the Windows operating system. Microsoft introduced virtualization-based security features – namely Device Guard and Credential Guard – in Windows 10, and in subsequent updates, has added other virtualization-based protections to the operating system.

Microsoft tackled the two biggest challenge for enterprises with Windows 10, password management and protecting the operating system from attackers. Windows Defender was renamed Windows Security in 2017 and now includes anti-malware and threat detection, firewall and network security, application and browser controls, device and account security, and device health. Windows Security shares status information between Microsoft 365 services and interoperates with Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection, Microsoft’s cloud-based forensic analysis tool.

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ComputerWorld Independent

September 18, 2018 admin

Easy way to bypass passcode lock screens on iPhones, iPads running iOS 12

Credit to Author: Darlene Storm, Michelle Davidson| Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2018 11:16:00 -0700

Update for iOS 12

With iOS 12 and iPhones that have Touch ID, you can still bypass the iPhone lock screen and trick Siri into getting into a person’s phone. The bypass is the same as it was in earlier versions of the operating system:

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

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

As was the case before, anyone can do this. It doesn’t have to be the person who “trained” Siri.

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ComputerWorld Independent

September 18, 2018 admin

9+ iOS 12 security improvements you should know about

Credit to Author: Jonny Evans| Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2018 04:03:00 -0700

Apple has shipped iOS 12 and it’s packed with new security improvements and settings every user needs to know about.

Ad tracking

Apple has made it much harder for data harvesting companies to exfiltrate your data without you knowing.

Safari in iOS 11 blocked third-party cookies that tracked you across multiple websites and cookies older than 30-days in age.

iOS 12 also gives you the option to block social media sharing icons and comment boxes from tracking you. Apple has also made it much harder for fingerprinting technologies to track and identify you by gathering information about your device, such as capacity or installed apps.

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ComputerWorld Independent

September 18, 2018 admin

W. Va. to use blockchain-based mobile app for mid-term voting

Credit to Author: Lucas Mearian| Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2018 03:12:00 -0700

West Virginia this fall will let members of the military and their families deployed overseas to vote by smartphone or tablet using a blockchain-based app developed by a Salt Lake City start-up, Voatz.

The voters using the app would otherwise have to submit paper absentee ballots via mail or vote over a land line telephone.

The move means the state will become the first in the U.S. to use blockchain in a voting system in a general election.

After being elected in January 2017, West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner tasked IT staff to investigate mobile voting options for 8,000 West Virginian military members overseas. Warner, a retired U.S. Army officer with four children who are also all current or former Army officers, cited his own inability to vote when deployed in Afghanistan as one reason for his efforts.

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ComputerWorld Independent

September 17, 2018 admin

SharePoint Workflows go belly-up when you install the September .Net Security Only patch

Credit to Author: Woody Leonhard| Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2018 08:29:00 -0700

‘Softie Rodney Viana has posted details and a workaround for the “System.CodeDom.CodeBinaryOperatorExpression is not marked as authorized” bug.

Apparently, installing last Tuesday’s KB 4457916 Security Only updates for .Net Framework 3.5, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, and 4.7.2 for Windows 8.1 and Server 2012 R2 causes a hard stop with any SharePoint Workflows. (Workflows are set up by an admin to handle the flow of documents through a series of steps.)

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ComputerWorld Independent

September 14, 2018 admin

One small step forward, one giant leap back

Credit to Author: Sharky| Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2018 03:00:00 -0700

This pilot fish is paying his monthly bills online when he discovers one of his utilities has changed the payment part of its website — a lot.

“I clicked on the ‘Payment’ button, and saw that I now had the option of paying with or without logging in,” says fish.

“OK, the no-login option could be handy, but I’ve been paying this bill online for years, so I clicked on the login option. It asked me for my user name and eight-digit PIN. What PIN? I have a long, secure password. I tried that. It didn’t work.”

And after several unsuccessful attempts, fish tries the no-login version — which just takes him to the same screen asking his PIN.

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