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March 11, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Remember in the ancient past, two years ago, when Ransomware first made its appearance, infecting hospitals and banks? That’s still happening, of course. But now, the hackers have a new target: mobile devices. Increasingly, hackers are shifting their attention to smartphones. The idea is that although there’s not as much money in them individually, with […]
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March 10, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Not long ago, the first instance of ransomware was designed to effect Macs. This was greeted with an even mix of shock, surprise and dismay among the ranks of Mac users, and it did a lot to dispel the Mac Mystique. After all, it has been held as an article of faith that Macs are […]
March 9, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Another week, another big problem for the Internet of Things. This time, it’s smart cars and the apps that surround them. There are an increasing number of apps available for a growing number of makes and models of vehicles that can do everything from unlocking your car to starting it remotely. Unfortunately, as researchers at […]
March 8, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Are you still using Yahoo mail? If so, your account may have been one of the billion or more accounts hacked in recent years. Yahoo’s email servers have been on the receiving end of two of the largest breaches in the history of the internet as recently as 2013, and for many users, it destroyed […]
March 7, 2017 by Vertical Axion
If you have a Gmail account, then you probably already know that you can’t attach .exe, .jar, or .pif files to any emails you send. Until recently, Javascript files were allowed, but Google has changed their policy. If you try to send a Javascript attachment, you’ll get a “this file type not allowed” message. The […]
March 6, 2017 by Vertical Axion
No matter how good your digital security system is, and no matter how much you’ve spent on it, your weakest link is and always will be your employees themselves. A careless or disgruntled employee can easily circumvent even the most elaborate system and cost you big money in the process. Fortunately, the courts are coming […]
March 4, 2017 by Vertical Axion
The Darkweb has trends, just like the conventional web does. In years past, the hottest data for sale on the black market was credit card info, but that is now changing according to the latest Trend Micro survey. The new hot property? Medical records, and Trend’s survey indicates that North American hospitals are more exposed […]
March 3, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Lockdroid is one of the oldest forms of ransomware in the Android ecosystem, and recently, it has been evolving at a frightening pace. Just last month, researchers found a version that displayed a 2D barcode, with the idea being that the infected user would scan the barcode to get a URL where payment could be […]
March 2, 2017 by Vertical Axion
There’s a nasty new form of Malware making the rounds that targets Chrome users, so if that’s your browser of choice, be warned that if you’re not careful, you could wind up with a lot more than you bargained for. Here’s how the new attack works: If you go to a website that doesn’t display […]
February 28, 2017 by Vertical Axion
If you’re a music lover and you’ve been to the website of the annual California music festival Coachella, then you are at risk. The entire Coachella database was recently found for sale on the Darkweb. It contains email addresses, passwords and in many cases, IP addresses and other personal information of everyone who has registered […]
February 27, 2017 by Vertical Axion
WordPress is the reigning King of the Content Management Systems, and by extension, the king of much of the internet. More people use the platform than any other, and with good reason. It’s an enormously flexible platform that will allow you to build any kind of website you want with ease. With creative use of […]
February 25, 2017 by Vertical Axion
It’s an oldie but a goodie, and an attack vector that Windows users have seen since the late 90’s. Macros. These are essentially shortcut codes that Microsoft Word and other applications use to automate certain processes. They’re written in Visual Basic, and unfortunately, in addition to making your life easier in MS Office, they can […]
February 22, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Kaspersky Labs originally discovered “fileless malware” back in 2014, but it wasn’t until this year that it became mainstream. Now, the company is reporting that more than 150 banks around the world may be infected. The problem with this kind of attack is that, as the name implies, it does not rely on files being […]
February 21, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Over the weekend, a hacker who goes by the name Stackoverflowin performed a public service. Of course, in the process of doing so, he terrified and confused a lot of people. Having researched a printer vulnerability, he wanted to help get the word out and have a little fun at the same time. So, he […]
February 20, 2017 by Vertical Axion
JavaScript is hands down the tool of choice of hackers who are interested in inserting malicious code onto a user’s device. Most commonly, scripts are embedded in compressed (zipped) files, and when unpacked, install on the user’s machine without him or her even being aware of what’s going on. The problem has reached such epic […]
February 17, 2017 by Vertical Axion
It hasn’t been a good time for Netgear. In recent months, security researchers across the industry have identified several critical security flaws that could leave your network exposed and vulnerable to attacks. The most recent were discovered by the security firm Trustwave which reported their findings to Netgear. These flaws revolve around the ability to […]
February 11, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Password security continues to be the single biggest weak point in the realm of digital security. The problems on this front are numerous, but chiefly stem from the facts that: • Too many people use simple, easily guessed passwords • Too many people use the same password across multiple accounts • And too many people […]
February 10, 2017 by Vertical Axion
If you use an Android device, and since they are the most popular devices on the planet these days, you probably do, then you may also be using a pattern locking mechanism to secure it. On the face of it, that seems to make a lot of sense. After all, given the number of high […]
February 9, 2017 by Vertical Axion
How’s your network security? Is it on par with police departments, which, you’d have to imagine, have fairly robust security? If so, you’re still not safe. Recently, police in Cockrell Hill, Texas, announced in a press release that they had been the victim of a ransomware attack that cost them dearly. The hackers demanded $4000 […]
February 7, 2017 by Vertical Axion
If you’re a Mac user who uses GarageBand or Logic Pro, you’re going to want to update both of those programs with Apple’s latest patches. According to the company, they discovered critical security flaws in both pieces of software that could allow hackers to remotely execute code. Apple stressed that there are no known instances […]
February 6, 2017 by Vertical Axion
The Department of Health and Human Services is off to a busy start in 2017, having just levied their second hefty fine for HIPAA violations. In this instance, the company in question was Puerto Rican insurer MAPFRE. Back in 2011, MAPFRE had reported an ePHI incident involving a flash drive that was stolen from the […]
February 4, 2017 by Vertical Axion
It seems like every week that passes, we become aware of some new threat to security online. In fact, it’s gotten so bad that a slowly increasing number of Americans are simply swearing off the internet, according to a recent survey by security researchers. This latest threat takes the form of something long thought to […]
February 3, 2017 by Vertical Axion
There’s a new phishing scam making the rounds, made noteworthy by the fact that it is especially convincing. What makes it so convincing is the lengths the hackers go to in order to fool their potential victims into thinking they’re getting a legitimate email. The attack begins by breaching one person’s email, then scanning the […]
February 2, 2017 by Vertical Axion
The year of 2016 saw more high-profile data breaches than at any time in the history of the internet. 2017 stands to break the record. With data breaches on the rise, the results from the most recent Data Breach and Customer Loyalty Report, published by Gemalto, sheds some interesting light on subject. According to the […]
