The hackers that hijacked Mat Honan’s online life, took over his Twitter account(s), and wiped out his iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and Google accounts in one fell swoop showed some perseverance in achieving that goal. Not all attackers are quite that determined, but the hack still demonstrates some serious flaws in Apple’s iCloud and the iCloud security model.
Tony Bradley | 08 Aug | Read more
The Internet is abuzz this weekend as a result of the Gizmodo Twitter account getting hijacked. That incident was traced back to the hack of an Apple iCloud account - allegedly accomplished through social engineering.
Tony Bradley | 05 Aug | Read more
The nation's critical infrastructure is at risk--a well-executed cyber attack could have a potentially devastating effect. Congress is trying to patch some of the holes with legislation, but a recent survey found that most security experts have little faith that government regulation can do the trick.
Tony Bradley | 03 Aug | Read more
A new Mac malware threat has been discovered. The OSX/Crisis Trojan is an insidious clever threat. Mac users should take steps to defend against this new malware, and proactively defend against future threats while they're at it.
Tony Bradley | 27 Jul | Read more
Microsoft announced a new version of its EMET (Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit) software at the Blackhat conference in Las Vegas. What’s unique about the EMET 3.5 Technology Preview is that it includes new defenses inspired by one of Microsoft’s BlueHat Prize finalists.
Tony Bradley | 25 Jul | Read more
According to sources with access to the developer beta of iOS 6, the next version of Apple’s mobile operating system will allow users to download and install free apps without requiring a password. If Apple doesn’t fix that before iOS 6 is officially launched, it will significantly impair the security of iOS devices.
Tony Bradley | 24 Jul | Read more
Normally if you find a rogue outlet strip, or a user happens to bring his or her own surge protector to use you might not think much of it. Thanks to a new device called the Power Pwn, though, it might soon be cause for concern.
Tony Bradley | 23 Jul | Read more
Grum--the third largest botnet in existence, and the source of nearly twenty percent of all spam traffic online--has been taken offline by authorities. In some ways the takedown is significant, but it may not change much in the grand scheme of things. Let's take a closer look at the botnet, and what the takedown means for all of us.
Tony Bradley | 20 Jul | Read more
A week from today all eyes will be on London and the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics. More than any prior Olympic games, the 2012 London Olympics will be watched and followed over the Internet and on mobile devices from around the world.
Tony Bradley | 20 Jul | Read more
By now you've probably heard that hackers were able to breach a Yahoo server and expose more than 450,000 account passwords. No server or network is impervious, but Yahoo's negligence or incompetence made this attack possible.
Tony Bradley | 13 Jul | Read more
It's the second Tuesday in July, and you know what that means: it's Microsoft Patch Tuesday. Today, Microsoft released nine new security bulletins as predicted in the advance notice last week. Some updates are more urgent than others, though, so we turn to security experts for insight and analysis to help guide your patching efforts.
Tony Bradley | 10 Jul | Read more
The FBI estimates that as many as 275,000 PCs are still at risk of losing access to the Web on Monday when it pulls the plug on the DNS servers it has maintained to redirect PCs compromised with the DNSChanger malware to legitimate websites. Seriously? How much warning do people need?
Tony Bradley | 06 Jul | Read more
Time flies. More than half of 2012 has already passed, and now--with the Independence Day festivities behind us--we turn our attention to the seventh Patch Tuesday of the year. There are nine new security bulletins expected from Microsoft next week, including a critical update for Internet Explorer 9.
Tony Bradley | 05 Jul | Read more
It all starts with a new frontier. Then, the pioneers come to explore and exploit the frontier, followed by settlers moving in to claim the frontier as their own. That brings on the "wild west"--a period with few rules, and rampant lawlessness.
Tony Bradley | 02 Jul | Read more
People don't like it when apps surreptitiously steal personal information. Apparently Apple's primary concern is the "surreptitious" part, though, rather than preventing personal data from being leaked or collected. New dialog boxes in iOS 6 may protect Apple, but will do little to help users safeguard their privacy.
Tony Bradley | 19 Jun | Read more