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February 5, 2018 by Vertical Axion
All companies collect data on their customers, but some are better than others when it comes to being upfront about what kinds of data are collected. Over the past year, Microsoft has made many moves that have been well-received by their enormous user base. They’ve become increasingly transparent and offer an unprecedented level of control […]
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February 3, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Do you play Blizzard online computer games such as World of Warcraft, Diablo III, Hearthstone, Starcraft II, or Overwatch? If so, there’s a potential problem you need to be aware of. Tavis Ormandy, a researcher on Google’s Project Zero team, recently discovered that the Blizzard Update Agent is vulnerable to hacking, via a technique known […]
February 2, 2018 by Vertical Axion
By now, we’ve seen enough large-scale Point of Sale (POS) credit card thefts that patterns are beginning to emerge. Some companies follow the general arc of the narrative better than others, and deserve credit for doing so, but in the end, the story is about the same. That’s certainly the case with Jason’s Deli. Recently, […]
February 1, 2018 by Vertical Axion
It’s official, the first macOS malware of 2018 is here. Discovered by an independent security researcher and dubbed “OSX/MaMi,” the code is functionally similar to DNSChanger malware. The researcher posted his findings on the Malwarebytes forum and none other than Patrick Wardle (an ex-NSA hacker) analyzed it, having this to say: “OSX/MaMi isn’t particularly advanced […]
January 31, 2018 by Vertical Axion
The ThreatMetrix Cybercrime Report 2017 is out, and is a troubling read for anyone who has anything to do with data security. As a fraud prevention company protecting nearly a billion and a half users around the world, they’re uniquely positioned to know, and their insights on the threat landscape is invaluable. Their main finding […]
January 30, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Intel’s year isn’t getting off to a very good start. Just after the discovery of a pair of critical vulnerabilities that have been in their chipsets for more than a decade comes the discovery of yet another serious flaw that could impact millions of laptops around the world. A Finnish data security firm called “F-Secure” […]
January 29, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Normally, Google’s robust series of checks and audits are pretty good at catching malicious code and preventing it from making its way to the Play Store. Sometimes, however, something slips through anyway despite the company’s best efforts. This latest one is particularly bad. Researchers from Check Point have identified a new strain of malware called […]
January 27, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Do you use any of the following Chrome browser extensions? Change HTTP Request Header Nyoogle – (a custom logo for Google) Stickies – (a Post-It note for Chrome) Lite Bookmarks If so, you’re not alone. These four extensions have a combined user base of more than half a million. Recently, security researchers from ICEBRG (a […]
January 26, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Does your company utilize either RackSwitch or BladeCenter networking switches? Are those switches running ENOS (the Enterprise Network Operating System)? If so, there’s a backdoor in your network you weren’t aware of. Even worse, it’s been there since 2004. Engineers at Lenovo recently discovered the backdoor in the firmware when they conducted an internal security […]
January 25, 2018 by Vertical Axion
A duo of researchers stumbled across a series of vulnerabilities in literally hundreds of GPS services that leave sensitive GPS tracking data open to hackers. Dubbed “Trackmageddon” by the researchers, the vulnerabilities span a range of weaknesses that include default or easy-to-guess passwords, IDOR (Insecure Direct Object Reference) issues, insecure API endpoints, and data collection […]
January 24, 2018 by Vertical Axion
There’s a constant tug of war playing out on the national stage. On one side, privacy advocates are pushing for greater autonomy for end users, and hard limits to the types of searches that law enforcement agencies are allowed to conduct. On the other side are the government agencies themselves, which often cite national security […]
January 23, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Remember the KRACK WiFi (WPA2) vulnerability, discovered by Mathy Vanhoef? It turns out that his discovery was a catalyst for action. Recently, the WiFi Alliance, which is the industry’s standards organization, released details about its new WPA3 protocol. Here’s a quick rundown of the changes you can expect to see in the months […]
January 22, 2018 by Vertical Axion
What’s an HDD manufacturer to do when faced with competition by faster, more efficient SSD drives? Go big, and go faster. At least that’s the strategy that both Seagate and Western Digital are adopting. SSDs tend to get prohibitively expensive as their size crosses the 1TB threshold, which creates an opportunity for HDD manufacturers. Seagate […]
January 21, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Recently, a group of investors wrote an open letter to Apple, urging the company to do more in regards to offering better and more robust parental controls on the devices the company makes. Although the group of investors control some $2 billion in Apple stock, this is a drop in the proverbial bucket, given the […]
January 20, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Did you purchase an HP laptop between December of 2015 and December of 2017? If so, then you may have problems. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has been made aware of eight instances where HP battery packs overheated, charred, or melted, creating a worrisome fire hazard that has gotten the attention of user groups […]
January 19, 2018 by Vertical Axion
The owners of Android devices have been able to properly view vertical videos for more than two years, but for Apple users, it was a different story. Instead of getting the traditional full-screen experience when viewing vertical videos, Apple users were saddled with annoying vertical bars that would appear on either side of the video […]
January 18, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Have you been hearing strange, otherworldly sounds on your Bose or Sonos speakers? If so, rest assured that your speakers aren’t haunted. They’ve likely been hijacked by hackers. Researchers at Trend Micro have confirmed that some models (the Sonos Play:1, the Sonos One and the Bose SoundTouch) of both brands of speakers are vulnerable to […]
January 17, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Another week, another attack vector, and this one deserves extra points for creativity. New research has proved the viability of using something as simple and innocuous as sound waves to disrupt the normal functioning of HDDs, which can be used to sabotage a wide range of equipment from Pcs, to CCTV systems, ATMs and more. […]
January 16, 2018 by Vertical Axion
AMD long ago dropped support of 32-bit operating systems, and now, Nvidia is following suit. The long-anticipated move by the company will mean the end of driver support for the 32-bit builds of Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Linux and FreeBSD. Nvidia is taking a balanced, responsible approach here. The company has […]
January 15, 2018 by Vertical Axion
“Paint” is one step closer to being a thing of the past. In May of this year, Microsoft caught a surprising amount of flak when they announced that the venerable app, which had been included with the OS in every release since 1985, would be going away and replaced by a newer, sleeker version called […]
January 13, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Chromebooks have brought Android apps to a much wider market, making them accessible to virtually everyone, but the Chrome OS has always lagged behind other platforms developmentally. One of its most serious limitations where running apps was concerned centered on its inability to multitask. Basically, if the app you’re using is not “in focus” or […]
January 12, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Facebook scams are fairly common occurrences, owing to the sheer size of the platform’s user base. It’s no surprise that there’s a new one making the rounds that you should be aware of. This latest threat was discovered by researchers at Trend Micro, and makes use of Facebook Messenger. If you get a message containing […]
January 11, 2018 by Vertical Axion
There’s some bad news if you own a computer driven by an Intel processor. Recently, a dangerous, catastrophic security flaw has been discovered in Intel’s X86-64 architecture that allows hackers to access the kernel, which sits at the heart of your OS. By accessing the kernel, a hacker can gain access to virtually everything on […]
January 10, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Not long ago, observant Reddit users noted and began discussing a curious phenomenon. It appeared that older iPhones were unexpectedly slowing down, and no one could name the reason why. It caught the attention of a number of security researchers who delved more deeply into the issue, including a man named John Poole, who confirmed […]
