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December 11, 2018 by Vertical Axion
In recent years we’ve seen several companies suffer from hacks of various magnitudes. Over time, we’ve witnessed the growth of what could be described as best practices in terms of how to respond. The typical arc goes something like this: The hack is discovered. Immediately thereafter, the company discloses the pertinent details about the hack, […]
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December 10, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Google relies on crowd sourcing to help keep its maps up to date. There’s no other approach that even comes close to being feasible. Sure, Google has employees on the job, roving the nation’s highways, byways, and back streets. Even if the company employed ten times the number they’re currently using, their maps wouldn’t be […]
December 8, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Back in October, Microsoft issued an update for Windows 10 that was a bit of a disaster. It wound up deleting some user files and sparked a completely justified outrage. The company pulled the update back, taking it offline so more people wouldn’t be impacted. Then they recently re-released it, this time, without the file […]
December 7, 2018 by Vertical Axion
There’s trouble brewing at Amazon, although details are sketchy about how much trouble there might be. Recently, the company sent the following message to some of its customers: “Hello, We’re contacting you to let you know that our website inadvertently disclosed your email address due to a technical error. The issue has been fixed. This […]
December 6, 2018 by Vertical Axion
In recent months, Google has taken steps to tighten up its processes so that fewer poisoned apps find their way into the Google Play Store. In addition to that, the company has stepped up its efforts to ruthlessly track down and remove malicious apps whenever and wherever they are found. By most accounts, that effort […]
December 5, 2018 by Vertical Axion
The mobile payment platform Venmo (owned by Paypal) has a fraud problem. That’s not exactly new. The company has struggled with fraud issues for a long time, but recently, things have gotten out of control. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company reported losses of $40 million in just the first three months of […]
December 4, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Bad news for computer users everywhere. Researchers at the University of California in Riverside have discovered that GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) are vulnerable to side-channel attacks like Spectre and Meltdown, which have been plaguing Intel CPU’s for the better part of a year. The team, (consisting of two computer science professors and two PhD students) […]
December 3, 2018 by Vertical Axion
In the world of data security, cryptocurrency mining software is often overlooked or discounted as a threat because it doesn’t do serious harm to the infected system. It bleeds off computing resources, putting them to work for the miners who control the software, working for them to solve complex cryptographic puzzles which generate revenue for […]
December 1, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Remember earlier this year when net neutrality got killed off and everybody said it wouldn’t matter? Well, it seems it might have mattered after all. Recently, three US Senators sent letters of inquiry to four wireless carriers. They are investigating allegations that the carriers have been throttling (slowing down) video services or Skype video calls. […]
November 30, 2018 by Vertical Axion
As you probably heard, Microsoft’s October update of Windows 10 was a bit of a disaster. Sure, it updated your OS, but unfortunately for many users, it also deleted a variety of files. This prompted outrage from the company’s massive user base. Things would have been bad enough if the calamitous October update had been […]
November 29, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Over the course of the holiday season this year, more than half of the working adults in the United States will be traveling with one or more of their work devices. Unfortunately, only a tiny fraction of those fully appreciate the data security risks inherent in travel, which is a grim reality that could put […]
November 27, 2018 by Vertical Axion
If you own an iPhone X and have been experiencing problems with the touch responsiveness of your display, you’re not alone. Apple has acknowledged that faulty components in an unspecified number of iPhone X’s may cause the display module to fail. In response, they’ve launched a new program to replace affected screens for free. If […]
November 26, 2018 by Vertical Axion
The wheels of government bureaucracy turn slowly, but they do turn. Currently, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is slowly pressing forward with an expansion of the available spectrum, on a quest to increase bandwidth for connected devices. Given the explosion of smart devices that has seen the Internet of Things (IoT) become the fastest-growing segment […]
November 24, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Given how unpopular ads are, you wouldn’t think that Microsoft would be experimenting with ways of displaying more of them. Unfortunately, that’s the direction the company is headed. Currently, members of the Windows Insiders test group can see ad banners in both the Mail and Calendar apps. Microsoft already allows third-party ads in Outlook.com […]
November 23, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Target is the latest company to fall victim to a simple but effective Twitter-Bitcoin scam. The scam is about as straightforward as it gets: A tweet gets sent out by a well-respected brand or prominent individual. It contains a link which is likely to be clicked on, given that it’s from a prominent individual or […]
November 22, 2018 by Vertical Axion
SailPoint has recently published some new research that will probably give you a headache, if you’re a business owner. It’s been common knowledge for at least a few years now that employees are a company’s weakest link when it comes to data security. From weak passwords, to using the same password across multiple web properties, […]
November 21, 2018 by Vertical Axion
How long does it take from when hackers steal credit card data from a given company until it appears for sale on the Dark Web? The answer varies from one hacker to the next, but the short answer is ‘not very long.’ The more precise answer, at least in the case of New Egg and […]
November 20, 2018 by Vertical Axion
For more than a year, Facebook has been working on an important update to their Messenger service that will give users the ability to “unsend” messages in conversations you’ve had with others. This means permanently deleting them from both your record of the conversation and theirs. On the face of it, that sounds amazing. If […]
November 19, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Google recently confirmed that “Dark Mode” on Android phones uses less power and thus, helps to boost battery life. Most websites and OS screens do all they can to make it easier to see them on the diminutive screens of our smartphones. That means bright white backgrounds and bright colors are used to highlight what […]
November 17, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Researchers from the Israeli security firm Armis have discovered a new security flaw in BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) chips that expose millions of access points and networking devices around the world. This opened the door to a new hack. The flaw has been dubbed “BleedingBit” and is actually two separate vulnerabilities that could allow a […]
November 16, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Bots make up a shocking percentage of internet traffic. In fact, in some industries, there are far more bots trolling sites than there are humans. Keeping bots from interfering with a website’s functionality and impacting human user experiences is an ongoing challenge that Google and many other companies are struggling to address. Google’s first attempt […]
November 15, 2018 by Vertical Axion
The Radisson Hotel Group joins the ranks of globally-recognized brands to be on the receiving end of a successful hack. According to the company, a small percentage of their loyalty club members had some of their personal information accessed by an unauthorized and as yet unknown third party. The company reports that no credit or […]
November 14, 2018 by Vertical Axion
A research team has found an exploit that allows hackers to decrypt and view encrypted files on a number of well-known SSD drives. They include: Samsung T5 Portable Samsung T3 Portable Samsung 850 EVO Samsung 840 EVO Crucial MX 300 Crucial MX 200 Crucial MX 100 According to the research team: “We […]
November 13, 2018 by Vertical Axion
In recent months, hackers around the world have been finding new ways to invade people’s privacy, hijacking an increasing number of cameras and microphones attached to smartphones and PCs. Apple is responding to the evolving threat by introducing a new layer of physical security to their latest MacBooks. The company has created a custom security […]
