Independent – Page 438 – Computer Security Articles

Not sure what your phone is collecting about you? A free Android app is promising to simplify the privacy settings on your smartphone, and stop any unwanted data collection.

The English language app, called Privacy Assistant, comes from a team at Carnegie Mellon University, which built it after six years of research studying digital privacy.

“It’s very clear that a large percentage of people are not willing to give their data to any random app,” said CMU professor Norman Sadeh. “They want to be more selective with their data, so this assistant will help them do that.”

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ComputerWorld Independent

February 9, 2017 admin

Microsoft lawsuit against indefinite gag orders can proceed

A Microsoft lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice over indefinite gag orders attached to search warrants can proceed, following a federal judge’s ruling on Thursday.

The tech titan sued last year to end the government’s practice of indefinitely blocking it from informing customers of search warrants for their information. Microsoft alleged that such orders violate its First Amendment frees speech rights and the Fourth Amendment privacy rights of its users.

The Justice Department argued that Microsoft couldn’t bring either of the claims in a motion argued in front of the judge two weeks ago.

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ComputerWorld Independent

February 9, 2017 admin

'Fileless malware' attacks, used on banks, have been around for years

Fileless malware attacks, which were recently discovered in the networks of at least 140 banks, telecoms and governments, account for about 15% of known attacks today and have been around for years in different forms.

“Fileless malware attacks are becoming much more common and circumvent most of the endpoint protection and detection tools deployed today,” Gartner security analyst Avivah Litan said.

A recent discovery of fileless malware was reported on Wednesday by researchers at Moscow-based Kaspersky Labs. The attackers have not been identified and “attribution [is] almost impossible,” according to Kaspersky.

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ComputerWorld Independent

February 9, 2017 admin

Windows Trojan hacks into embedded devices to install Mirai

Attackers have started to use Windows and Android malware to hack into embedded devices, dispelling the widely held belief that if such devices are not directly exposed to the Internet they’re less vulnerable.

Researchers from Russian antivirus vendor Doctor Web have recently come across a Windows Trojan program that was designed to gain access to embedded devices using brute-force methods and to install the Mirai malware on them.

Mirai is a malware program for Linux-based internet-of-things devices, such as routers, IP cameras, digital video recorders and others. It’s used primarily to launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and spreads over Telnet by using factory device credentials.

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Independent Krebs

February 9, 2017 admin

Fast Food Chain Arby’s Acknowledges Breach

Sources at nearly a half-dozen banks and credit unions independently reached out over the past 48 hours to inquire if I’d heard anything about a data breach at Arby’s fast-food restaurants. Asked about the rumors, Arby’s told KrebsOnSecurity that it recently remediated a breach involving malicious software installed on payment card systems at hundreds of its restaurant locations nationwide.

ComputerWorld Independent

February 9, 2017 admin

IDG Contributor Network: Balancing security and convenience on your Android phone

In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need passwords, lock screens, or to take any other steps to protect our security and privacy.

In the real world, we need to find the right balance of security and convenience. It can be difficult to find the sweet spot with an acceptable level of risk and ease of use because — even though no one likes to think it will happen to them — millions of phones are lost or stolen each year.

A modern smartphone can provide access to almost every aspect of your life, ranging from your email to your banking information. It is important to keep the level of risk in mind when you are choosing how much effort you are willing to put towards ensuring that information remains private.

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ComputerWorld Independent

February 9, 2017 admin

IT and C-level leaders point fingers at each other over cyber defense

IT managers disagree with chief executives over who is responsible for a cyber security breach, according to a survey released Thursday.

The survey — of a group of 221 chief executive officers and other C-level executives and another group of 984 IT decision makers — found that each group largely believes the other group is responsible in the event of a breach.

In the survey, 35% of C-level respondents said IT teams would be responsible in a breach, while 50% of IT leaders think that responsibility rests with their senior managers.

Also, IT managers estimate a single cyber attack will cost their business nearly twice what top-level executives estimate. The IT managers put the cost of a single attack at $19 million, compared to the C-suite estimate of about $11 million.

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ComputerWorld Independent

February 9, 2017 admin

7 musts for any successful BYOD program

Mobile devices, mobile apps and the networks they use are now essential to satisfy customers, collaborate more effectively with suppliers, and keep employees productive anytime and anywhere.