Malware Turns Smartphone Into Eavesdropper

I read an interesting article on Naked Security the other day about how Hamas had used Facebook and social engineering tactics to trick Israeli soldiers into installing surveillance malware.  The malware allowed Hamas to track the soldiers using the phone’s GPS, and to turn on the microphone and video to actually listen in and and watch their targets.  Hamas undoubtedly picked up the ...

Continue Reading →
3

Facebook Strengthens Password Recovery Process

As a regular reader of this blog, you are probably using a long, unique, 20 character password with two-factor authentication, and a password manager to keep it all straight.  But let’s say that you fall for a phishing scam, and give away the password to your email account.  The attacker can now use your email account to request password reset emails from your other online accounts, and you have yourself one ...

Continue Reading →
0

Facebook Adds USB Key Two-Factor Authentication

Facebook has added USB key security to it’s two-factor authentication options.  Previously, Facebook users could add the additional security of two-factor authentication to their account by using the Facebook app to receive a six digit one-time passcode, or by having the code sent to their smart phone via SMS text message.  Facebook now supports the open-source Universal 2 Factor (U2F) standard established by the FIDO Alliance, such as the  Yubikey from ...

Continue Reading →
0

Apple Users Get Updates

If you are an Apple user, Apple released a number of updates released late in January that will fix security vulnerabilities in several platforms and services.  It was reported by US-CERT on January 23rd.

The release for Mac OSX Sierra is large, at 105 GB, and fixes many holes that would allow and attacker to remotely execute malware.  This is something you should fix ...

Continue Reading →
0

The Problem With Biometric Authentication

NIST is working on new authentication standards, and there are some surprising changes coming out of this effort.  One of the issues that NIST is dealing with is the use of biometrics for authentication.  But there are problems with biometrics.  Here they are from the NIST Special Publication 800-63b.  Emphasis is mine.

“5.2.3. Use of Biometrics

For a variety of reasons, ...

Continue Reading →
1

Flash Alert: Microsoft Cancels Patch Tuesday

Wow.  Microsoft discovered some last minute issues with February’s Patch Tuesday update, and cancelled them.  You can read about it on TechNet.  They will be reissued at a later date, after suitable repairs are made.

As a user who had occasionally found myself on the wrong end of an update that caused my computer to misbehave, all I can say is “Thank you Microsoft.”

Continue Reading →

0

Passwords Are On Life Support

Passwords are not dead – not yet.  But they are on life support.  They are no longer enough to truly secure anything on their own.

I just read an sobering, eye-popping article on NetMux that discussed easy ways to crack passwords that are longer than 12 characters.

What makes this so disheartening for me is that I have been telling everyone to increase their password ...

Continue Reading →
0
Page 175 of 272 «...150160170173174175176177...»