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June 16, 2017 by Vertical Axion
If you use a router built on old WiMAX technology, be advised that you’re very likely at risk. The severe security flaws were discovered by the security firm SEC Consult, and take two forms. Firstly, there’s a flaw in the firmware that leaves the router’s admin panel exposed to the web, opening the door to […]
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June 15, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Microsoft has issued an emergency, out-of-band patch to shore up some critical weaknesses in Window’s Malware Protection Engine. This is an unseen part of the OS that actively scans and prevents malicious code from ever making its way onto your system in the first place. It operates independently of any antivirus software you might be […]
June 14, 2017 by Vertical Axion
An AOL developer named Ran Bar-Zik has unearthed a disturbing flaw in Chrome that may make you rethink using Google’s web browser. The issue revolves around a website’s ability to activate your camera and audio recorder. Google uses an API which legitimate developers call, that displays a distinctive red dot on the browser tab when […]
June 13, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Security professionals have been talking for months about the dangers of smart devices, most of which are almost comically (and tragically) lacking in even the most basic security protocols. More recently, the global Wannacry Ransomware attack demonstrated that smart medical devices were vulnerable to attack, with several of them being temporarily shut down by the […]
June 12, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Last month, the fast food chain Chipotle announced that they had been the victim of a large-scale data breach, but initially, the company was unable to provide any specific information regarding the scope and scale of that attack. Now, they have, and it’s worse than anyone could have imagined. The company reports that the hackers […]
June 10, 2017 by Vertical Axion
This has been a tough month for people who are using older Windows Operating Systems, especially Windows 7 users. The global Wannacry ransomware attack centered mostly on Windows 7 users, and now, a new attack has come to light that is making the lives of those users miserable all over again. Actually, it would be […]
June 9, 2017 by Vertical Axion
The recent “Wannacry” hacking attack was global in its scale, impacting companies in more than 150 nations before it was stopped by a security expert with a good eye. It was such a dangerous, widespread attack that Microsoft even took the highly unusual step of issuing an emergency patch for Windows XP users, even though […]
June 8, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Security researchers have stumbled across a vast treasure trove of hacked user accounts residing in a completely unprotected database online. The database contains more than 560 million user names, email addresses, passwords, IP addresses, physical addresses and more. The database was discovered via the Shodan search engine, which searches the web for open ports and […]
June 7, 2017 by Vertical Axion
It seems that every time a company works hard to provide greater device security, it’s not long before an enterprising hacker comes along to find a way around the new and supposedly fool proof system. The latest victim is Samsung’s new iris scanning technology, which has now been rolled out on their various smartphones. In […]
June 6, 2017 by Vertical Axion
As much attention as the recent, worldwide “Wannacry” ransomware attack got for bringing the UK’s health system to its knees and idling factories around the globe, it had another, less noticed, but no less important and terrifying impact. An unnamed source recently released a screenshot of a “smart” medical device that had been locked and […]
June 5, 2017 by Vertical Axion
India’s largest online restaurant guide, Zomato, boasts some 120 million users. If you live there, or have employees in India, they may have been impacted, as the company has just reported that some 17 million of its user base saw their personal information compromised during a recent, large scale data breach. The as yet unidentified […]
June 3, 2017 by Vertical Axion
As good as Google is about reviewing the apps that find their way into the halls of the Google Play Store, malicious code still manages to find its way inside. Granted, not nearly at the same rate you see in third party app stores, but it still happens. Google takes that seriously, and has just […]
June 1, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Sometimes, legitimate companies accidentally create malware. That’s certainly the case in this latest example. It was an innocent mistake, but some debugging code was inadvertently left in the code of an audio driver used by more than two dozen models of HP laptops. As a result, unknown to the users of those machines, the audio […]
May 31, 2017 by Vertical Axion
The Empire is officially striking back, and hacking is about to get at least a little bit harder. Recently, there have been several high-profile attacks that relied on Google’s user data, the most recent of which was a large-scale phishing attack which attempted to gain access to Gmail accounts by tricking users into clicking on […]
May 30, 2017 by Vertical Axion
It’s been a bad week for the corporate world. Things started off with a bang thanks to the “WannaCry” ransomware attack that targeted more than 200,000 company locations in more than 150 countries. Among other things, it brought the UK’s NHS to a complete standstill and idled auto factories in France, but hospitals and manufacturing […]
May 29, 2017 by Vertical Axion
DocuSign, the world’s leader in electronic signatures for official documents, played an unwitting role in a particularly nasty phishing attack. If you’re not familiar with the company, DocuSign is used by 12 of the top 15 US insurance companies, 12 of the top 15 US financial services companies and by most real estate agents, nationwide. […]
May 27, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Phishing attacks are a fact of life on the internet these days, but recently, a Google Doc was used in a wide-spread, wildly successful attack that security researchers are calling one of the most advanced attacks of its class seen to date. In fact, the attack was so successful, that in its aftermath, Google is […]
May 26, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Google is throwing its weight around on behalf of the netizins of the world. Beginning this October, Chrome users will start seeing “Not Secure” warning messages any time they use Incognito Mode and venture onto a website that isn’t using a secure socket layer (SSL). The easiest way to tell the difference? Secure websites begin […]
May 25, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Unless you are intimately familiar with digital security, odds are good that you’ve never heard of Snake, Uroburos or Turla. These are three different aliases used by a single group of sophisticated Russian hackers that have been operating since at least 2007. Security professionals categorically agree that this group is far more organized, and more […]
May 24, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Does your company use IBM Storwize? If you’re not sure what that is, then you probably don’t. It’s the company’s Big Data storage system, and when you purchase it, you get USB flash drives with initialization tools and installation files. Unfortunately, IBM has recently discovered that some of the flash drives they’ve been shipping out […]
May 23, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Researchers from Check Point Software Technologies have identified a new strain of malware dubbed OSX/Dok that has been found infesting macOS users. The new malware has been primarily found in Europe, and is being spread primarily via phishing campaigns, using emails spoofed to appear as though they’re coming from official sources. One example recently discovered […]
May 22, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Several months ago, a nasty malware attack caused quite a stir among Google Chrome users. After a flurry of activity, it went dormant. Now, it seems to have returned, and this time, it’s targeting Firefox users. The basic form of the attack is unchanged, however. From the user’s perspective, it looks like this: You surf […]
May 20, 2017 by Vertical Axion
If you’ve recently downloaded an app called SMAVova, you’re not alone. Between one and five million users have done the same. Unfortunately, that’s a problem, and to be safe, you’ll want to reset your device to factory defaults to be sure you’re rid of it. It’s actually malware, and once you download it, it will […]
May 19, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Dell has recently released the findings from their End-User Security Survey, and the results will probably keep you up late at night with worry. Their key finding was that an overwhelming percentage of employees (72 percent) are willing to share confidential or sensitive corporate information, and fully a third say that taking confidential corporate data […]
