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July 17, 2018 by Vertical Axion
It’s no secret that there are legions of scammers and spammers haunting the virtual halls of Facebook. As the world’s largest and most influential social networking site, it’s a natural target, making its masses of users natural targets, too. Facebook is taking steps to counter the threat posed by these nefarious actors, after being somewhat […]
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July 16, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Internet security researcher Vinny Trola recently made a huge and disturbing discovery. A marketing firm called Exactis had left a massive database unsecured, allowing anyone who stumbled across it to access it. As a marketing firm, Exactis collects simply mind-boggling amounts of data on consumers all over the globe. The database in question was a […]
July 14, 2018 by Vertical Axion
While a significant percentage of Americans are suspicious of government spending beyond the essentials, there’s at least one notable exception, according to a recent survey conducted by SecurityFirst. A majority (74 percent) of Americans want their local governments to spend more money on cybersecurity. Here are a few of the highlights from the survey: […]
July 13, 2018 by Vertical Axion
File this one away under “watch your permissions.” It’s recently come to light that an unknown number of third party apps have access to read emails sitting in your Gmail account. While the practice is not new, things like this are coming under increased scrutiny in the wake of Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica incident. Here are […]
July 12, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Another week, another high-profile data breach. This time, Adidas and their online store was the target. The company became aware of the incident on June 26th, and immediately began notifying “certain customers” that their data had been compromised. The official statement from the company reads in part, as follows: “Adidas is working with leading […]
July 11, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Facebook recently announced a site bug that impacted the privacy settings of more than 800,000 of its users. If you’re one of the unfortunate souls who has been affected, then people you had formerly blocked may have become unblocked, and can now see your posts. For many people, that’s not a huge deal. In some […]
July 10, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Researchers from Ruhr-Universität Bochum and New York University in Abu Dhabi have discovered serious security flaws in 4G LTE networks that allow hackers to spy on, listen in on, intercept, and disrupt phone calls and text messages. Given that billions of people rely on 4G LTE networks for cellphone communications, it’s a serious issue, and […]
July 9, 2018 by Vertical Axion
If you own a Macbook or a Macbook Pro and your keyboard has “butterfly switches,” you may have noticed some strange things with the way it operates. Users have been talking about the issue on forums scattered around the internet, but until recently, no one had a definitive answer for why the problem was occurring […]
July 7, 2018 by Vertical Axion
As most people know, Microsoft Edge was the company’s “reboot.” After trying for years to patch and update their beleaguered Internet Explorer, Microsoft ultimately decided to scrap it and start fresh. Since Edge’s launch, it has struggled to gain traction with users. Recently, Microsoft has upped the ante, at least where Edge for iOS and […]
July 6, 2018 by Vertical Axion
There’s some good news from a recent Supreme Court ruling where privacy is concerned, but take it with a grain of salt. In a recent 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement agencies must obtain a warrant before they can get access to data collected and stored on mobile devices. Of special significance, […]
July 5, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Good news for the business world in general, and the owners of data centers, in particular. Mass storage is about to get vastly more efficient thanks to Samsung’s recently launched solid state drive, which manages to pack an impressive 8TB of storage into a delightfully small footprint, measuring just 11cm x 3.05cm. Not only do […]
July 4, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Menlo Security has recently published a new report that will probably dismay you if you’re a business owner. Microsoft Office has been named as the attack vector of choice for hackers around the world. The most common form of the attack is a malicious Word document or other office document attached to an innocent looking […]
July 3, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Researchers at Okta Security have stumbled across something big. Recently, they discovered a flaw in Apple’s OS that would have allowed hackers to completely undermine Apple’s code signing process. While at first glance that doesn’t sound so bad, the implications are terrifying. In a nutshell, code signing uses cryptographic “signatures” to verify and validate code. […]
July 2, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Do you use Cortana? It’s a handy virtual assistant (like Siri) built into Windows 10. Unfortunately, as useful as she is, there’s a problem. Even if you don’t use Cortana yourself, take heed: Microsoft has recently issued a security update based on findings by McAfee researchers. It turns out that Cortana can be “summoned” from […]
June 30, 2018 by Vertical Axion
File this one away under “confirming things we already knew.” A recent study conducted jointly by Blink and Trusona confirmed that people just don’t like passwords very much. Their study tracked the login behavior of 148 participants over a three-week period. Without knowing the true purpose of the study, participants were asked to log into […]
June 29, 2018 by Vertical Axion
What’s old is new again. Hackers have recently begun re-deploying a decade-old trick called ‘ZeroFont’ to get around Microsoft’s security filters and deliver phishing and spam emails to Office 365 email accounts. The gimmick? Zero-point fonts. As anyone with even passing familiarity to Office 365 knows, if you’re drafting a document, you can change the […]
June 28, 2018 by Vertical Axion
How many web apps do you have on your phone? Probably a ton. Here’s something you likely didn’t know. Based on the latest research from Positive Technologies, nearly half of them (48 percent) are vulnerable to unauthorized access. As bad as that is, it’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Here are some […]
June 27, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Malicious code can wind up on your PC or phone by any number of roads. Companies do their best to guard the digital passes, but invariably, things get missed and the hackers find a way in. It’s a constant battle, and sadly, one that the good guys are losing. Recently Google has stepped up its […]
June 26, 2018 by Vertical Axion
More bad news for Intel. Yet another security flaw has been identified in the processors the company makes. This one is so newly discovered that the full technical details have yet to be released. Here’s what we know so far, from a recent Intel announcement: “System software may opt to utilize Lazy FP state restore […]
June 25, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Being “number 1” isn’t always a good thing. Rapid7 has just published their third annual “National Exposure Index,” and unfortunately, the United States has the dubious honor of being the nation most at risk for a cyber attack on its core services. The group’s methodology for ranking national exposure comes down to tracking the number […]
June 23, 2018 by Vertical Axion
It’s the end of the line for Yahoo Messenger. As of July, it will be no more, marking the end of an era. The announcement comes just six months after AIM (the old AOL messaging program) was shut down. The first major messaging programs from the early days of the internet will soon be a […]
June 22, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Facebook is in hot water again. Recently, the company admitted that while testing a new feature on the site, they inadvertently made public the posts of more than fourteen million users. The incident occurred between May 18th and May 22nd and occurred when Facebook was testing a new “Featured Posts” enhancement. The goal was that […]
June 21, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Another week, another new threat. This time, in the form of a new strain of malware that researchers are calling InvisiMole. The new threat was discovered by researchers at ESET, who found it on a number of hacked computers in Russia and the Ukraine. While the researchers have yet to trace the software back to […]
June 20, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Big changes are coming from Microsoft starting in July (exact date unknown), and it has potentially dire implications if you’re using some of the company’s older technology. Microsoft announced that in July, they’ll no longer provide forum-based support for a wide range of products and software, including: Microsoft Band Zune Surface Pro […]
