Independent – Page 411 – Computer Security Articles

Credit to Author: Gregg Keizer| Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2017 13:23:00 -0700

Hackers claiming to have hundreds of millions of iCloud credentials have threatened to wipe date from iPhones, iPads and Macs if Apple does not fork over $150,000 within two weeks.

“This group is known for getting accounts and credentials, they have gotten credentials in the past,” said Lamar Bailey, director of security research and development at Tripwire, of the purported hackers. “But whether they have that many … who knows?”

There’s another reason for not panicking, Bailey said: People can quickly make their accounts more secure, assuming the criminals have only collected, not actually compromised the iCloud accounts by changing millions of passwords.

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 22, 2017 admin

Google cites progress in Android security, but patching issues linger

Credit to Author: Michael Kan| Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2017 12:41:00 -0700

The chances of your encountering malware on your Android phone is incredibly small, according to Google.

By the end of last year, less than 0.71 percent of Android devices had installed a “potentially harmful application,” such as spyware, a Trojan, or other malicious software.

That figure was even lower, at 0.05 percent, for Android phones that downloaded apps exclusively from the Google Play store.

The internet giant revealed the figures in a new report detailing its efforts to making the Android OS secure. Thanks to better app review systems, the company is detecting and cracking down on more malware.

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 22, 2017 admin

Hackers demand $150K ransom, threaten to wipe millions of Apple devices

Credit to Author: Lucian Constantin| Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2017 09:43:00 -0700

A group of hackers is threatening to wipe data from millions of Apple devices in two weeks if the company doesn’t pay them US$150,000.

The group, which calls itself Turkish Crime Family, claims to have login credentials for more than 627 million icloud.com, me.com and mac.com email addresses. These are email domains that Apple has allowed for users creating iCloud accounts over the years.

Even though the Turkish Crime Family hasn’t been in the media spotlight before, its members claim that they’ve been involved in selling stolen online databases in private circles for the past few years.

The group said via email that it has had a database of about 519 million iCloud credentials for some time, but did not attempt to sell it until now. The interest for such accounts on the black market has been low due to security measures Apple has put in place in recent years, it said.

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 22, 2017 admin

U.S. lawmakers question police use of facial recognition tech

Credit to Author: Grant Gross| Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2017 08:33:00 -0700

Reacting to concerns about the mass collection of photographs in police databases, U.S. lawmakers plan to introduce legislation to limit the use of facial recognition technology by the FBI and other law enforcement organizations.

The FBI and police departments across the country can search a group of databases containing more than 400 million photographs, many of them from the drivers’ licenses of people who have never committed a crime. The photos of more than half of U.S adults are contained in a series of FBI and state databases, according to one study released in October.

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Independent Krebs

March 22, 2017 admin

eBay Asks Users to Downgrade Security

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2017 17:59:44 +0000

Last week, KrebsOnSecurity received an email from eBay. The company wanted me to switch from using a hardware key fob when logging into eBay to receiving a one-time code sent via text message. I found it remarkable that eBay, which at one time was well ahead of most e-commerce companies in providing more robust online authentication options, is now essentially trying to downgrade my login experience to a less-secure option.

ComputerWorld Independent

March 22, 2017 admin

Password-stealing flaws in LastPass Chrome and Firefox extensions

Credit to Author: Darlene Storm| Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2017 06:25:00 -0700

Tavis Ormandy, a security researcher on Google’s Project Zero team, warned of flaws in LastPass browser extensions, vulnerabilities which – if a person surfed to a malicious site – would allow the malicious site to steal passwords from the password manager.

LastPass said it patched the vulnerability in its Chrome extension and said it is working on a fix for the flaw in its Firefox add-on.

Ormandy originally said the LastPass bug affected 4.1.42 Chrome and Firefox browser extensions. He developed a working exploit for a Windows box running the LastPass Chrome extension, but said it “could be made to work on other platforms.” He sent the details to LastPass before adding:

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 22, 2017 admin

Security Sessions: Where is VC security funding going?

In the latest episode of Security Sessions, CSO Editor-in-Chief Joan Goodchild sits down with Jeff Fagnan from Accomplice, a venture capital and private equity firm in Cambridge, Mass. The two discuss the current state of VC funding in security companies and where the money is going (and not going), and why CSOs should "follow the money."

ComputerWorld Independent

March 21, 2017 admin

UK follows U.S. ban of electronic devices in cabins on some flights

Credit to Author: Michael Kan| Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2017 11:20:00 -0700

The U.K. is joining the U.S. in its ban restricting passengers from bringing some electronic devices onto flights from the Middle East.

Phones, laptops, and tablets that are larger than 16 cm (6.3 inches) in length and wider than 9.3 cm will no longer be allowed in the cabin on select flights coming from several Middle Eastern countries, the U.K.’s department of transportation said on Tuesday.

The U.K. said it was in “close contact” with the U.S. since the country announced its own ban on Monday. However, the U.K. made no mention of any specific risk, only that it faces “evolving” terrorism threats.

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