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September 30, 2016 by Vertical Axion
GM has given the world a first: a recall of up to four million of the vehicles it has manufactured. Of course, recalls are nothing new, especially in the auto industry. However, what makes this one unique is that the recall is being issued because of a bug in the software of GM vehicles that […]
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September 29, 2016 by Vertical Axion
The hackers have struck again, and this time, they seem to have hit the Mother Lode. Yahoo recently announced that they’ve been hacked, and that at least a half a billion user accounts may have been compromised. Yes, that billion, with a “B.” The announcement was made when a portion of the database was found […]
September 27, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Dropbox is no stranger to hacking attacks, and in recent months, they’ve been made a target once again. In this instance, hackers have launched a phishing campaign aimed at Dropbox users. They send out poisoned emails that, by all outward appearances, look like invoices. The note that accompanies the link to the “invoice” says that […]
September 23, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Typically, people running some flavor of Linux have little to fear from the hacking community. By and large, Linux users have been ignored or passed by in favor of other targets. Unfortunately, not even Linux users are safe anymore. There’s a new ransomware variant making the rounds called “Fairware,” and it is specifically targeting Linux […]
September 20, 2016 by Vertical Axion
As you probably know by now, ransomware is a particularly insidious form of hacking attack whereby a target computer’s files are locked or held hostage in some way, and besides restoring from whatever backups you have, the only way to get the files back is to pay the ransom demanded by the hackers. What you […]
September 19, 2016 by Vertical Axion
The story of the fall of the hacker going by the alias “Track2” is an absolutely riveting one. Track2, whose real name is Roman Valerevich Seleznev, is a thirty-one year old from Russia. His criminal enterprise thrived from 2009 to 2013, when it was finally shut down, but unfortunately not before he did a considerable […]
September 17, 2016 by Vertical Axion
If you’re a Mac user who downloads files using the torrent software called “Transmission,” you may want to check your machine for signs of infection. It was recently discovered that a malicious copy of the torrent software had found its way onto Transmission’s website, which is where most people go to download the client. As […]
September 16, 2016 by Vertical Axion
There have been papers written and demonstrations conducted in recent months to show how it’s possible to wirelessly log your keystrokes. All of those demonstrations have relied upon specialized gear you can make using off-the-shelf components, but given that requirement, it limits the pool of hackers with the technical skills to pull it off. Recently, […]
September 15, 2016 by Vertical Axion
If you’re one of the millions of Dropbox users around the world, you were probably mildly annoyed recently when you logged on to find that you were being forced to change your password on that system. It’s one part of the company’s response to a data breach that dates back to 2012. In 2012, the […]
September 14, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Opera does not have anything that could be described as a commanding share of the web browser market, but as one of oldest and best loved browsers in existence, the company still commands respect, and has a collection of die-hard fans, supporters and users. In the years since releasing their first browser, the company has […]
September 13, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Shaun Treacy, the President of MHR (Millennium Hotels and Resorts) North America, has recently sent a communication to guests who stayed at some of the company’s locations between March and June of 2016. In his letter, he warns that an unnamed form of malware was discovered on some of the company’s Point of Sale systems, […]
September 12, 2016 by Vertical Axion
An interesting and disturbing new form of Ransomware was on display at this year’s Def Con convention, in Las Vegas. So far as anyone knows, this is the first, proof of concept ransomware that targets smart thermostats. Yes, you read that correctly. The new ransomware is specifically designed to target smart thermostats. Various security experts […]
September 10, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Much has been written in previous months about the explosion in growth of the (IOT) Internet of Things, and the security risks posed by that growth. Where PCs, laptops, and smartphones all have fairly robust security measures in place to prevent hackers from gaining easy access, the same cannot be said of the growing legion […]
September 9, 2016 by Vertical Axion
In some important ways, the media has a tendency to distort the reality where hacking and data breaches are concerned. The stories that tend to make the headlines are the external breaches that see hackers making off with tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of customer records. They’re good stories. They get clicks […]
September 8, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Although a number of tech companies have been working hard to create new and ever more robust security and authentication protocols, a recent survey revealed that the American public in general remains highly skeptical of the new procedures, and only a tiny fraction of the population actually employs them. The survey results reveal that more […]
September 5, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Sage, LLC, a British company providing business software solutions for clients around the world, was the latest victim of a data breach. This one, however, came from inside the company itself. This is an increasingly common problem, though not as widely reported as the high profile data breaches from hackers outside the company’s firewall. One […]
September 3, 2016 by Vertical Axion
What do you do when you get a popup window generated by some piece of software you use, informing you of a critical update? Do you stop what you’re doing right then and perform the needed update? Most people don’t, according to recent research. In fact, a full ninety percent of users simply close the […]
September 2, 2016 by Vertical Axion
You’ve probably seen the headlines. This year, hardly a week goes by that there isn’t a report of a company in some way connected to the health care industry falling victim to ransomware. If you think it feels like they’re being specifically targeted, you’re not imagining things. According to the latest research by FireEye, hackers […]
August 31, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Adobe’s beleaguered Flash player may finally be seeing its last days, at least if Google has anything to say about it. The player has been exceedingly popular, and at its peak, a vast number of websites relied on it heavily to display content and advanced features to website visitors. Unfortunately, in recent years, a number […]
August 30, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Microsoft is a company that definitely understands the need for better and more secure information systems. Like many other tech companies, they’ve been pushing hard for two-factor authentication protocols covering large swaths of their online ecosystem. Unfortunately, their approach has been rather messy and unfocused. They’re attempting to remedy that situation by announcing the rollout […]
August 29, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Remember not long ago, when the big credit card issuers went on at some length touting their latest advances in smart chip technology? The new tech was supposed to vastly improve the security of credit cards, rendering them virtually immune to hacking. Well, it turns out that might have been a bit of an overstatement. […]
August 27, 2016 by Vertical Axion
There have been a number of scams in recent years involving malware that creates false flag problems on your desktop. The faux problem is presented, along with a phone number you can call to get help resolving the issue. Consider this a kinder, gentler form of ransomware. Because it all looks very official, and the […]
August 25, 2016 by Vertical Axion
The unfortunate reality is that most instances of hacking occur from within a company itself. It’s true that the high profile cases that make the news are successful breaches from outside the company, but the statistics bear out the fact that this is less common than internal breaches. Recently, an employee of Tampa General Hospital […]
August 24, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Do you trust what your eyes tell you? If you’re looking at a computer monitor, that trust might be misplaced. At a recent DEFCON presentation in Las Vegas, researchers demonstrated how it’s possible to hack into a monitor’s firmware and make changes to what a user sees on their computer, without actually breaking into the […]
