In the latest Annual State of the Net Consumer Report about 58.2 million American home PCs were affected with at least one malware infection, causing an estimated $4 billion in repair costs. "Our Annual State of the Net Report revealed that home computers are no safer than they were last year," said Jeff Fox, technology [...]
According to the 2013 Symantec Internet Security Threat Report, 50 percent of all targeted cyber attacks in 2012 were aimed at businesses with fewer than 2,500 employees. Thirty-one percent of attacks were aimed at businesses with fewer than 250 employees. These stats are telling—small businesses are increasingly becoming a target for hackers.The reasons why are [...]
This Saturday, April 20, is the Better Business Bureau’s (BBB) annual Shred Day—what they call an “identity theft, fraud prevention and educational initiative.”Why shred?We often have documents lying around that feature sensitive information sought by identity thieves and fraudsters. This personal identifying information (PII) can include your name, Social Security Number, bank account number or [...]
Do you consider yourself a “safe surfer”? A “safe surfer” can be defined as someone who avoids the suspicious parts of the web, only downloads files that they are expecting, and one who inputs confidential data on only https sites. Even if you do practice these measures, you are still at risk. However, your level [...]
This week, Kaspersky Lab discovered the first-known targeted attack to use Android malware, which targeted Tibetan activists and other ethnic groups in China. "The malware [used] a combination of e-mail hacking, ‘spear phishing’ and a Trojan built specifically for Android smartphones," said Ars Technica.Mashable said that the malware was "sent as an attachment in an [...]
Apple announced on Thursday that they’ve created a tool that strengthens password security for Apple accounts: two-step verification. This should come as no surprise since many companies now offer two-factor authentication after suffering from data breaches. (And remember the Mat Honan hack?)The New York Times reported that, “the security feature (must be turned on manually [...]
This past week, Google announced a novel idea for the future of passwords – a ring. Hardware authentication tokens aren’t a new concept, by any means, but Google thinks it’s time to bring this idea to a broader audience. Here’s a recap of the top news stories around this topic.Geek.com said that “Google is [currently] [...]
This past week, Evernote had the misfortune of being the latest hacking victim. More than 50 million users were asked to reset passwords. Here’s a recap of what a couple articles had to say about the hacking.The Los Angeles Times reported that “hackers were able to gain access to users’ email addresses, their user names [...]
This past week, researchers at Kaspersky Lab and CrySys Lab uncovered a new strain of malware dubbed “MiniDuke.” This form of malware appears to combine old school techniques with more modern options to target government entities and institutions around the world. Hackers targeted dozens of computer systems at government agencies across Europe through a flaw [...]
We’ve talked a lot about passwords on this blog, including how ineffective they are as a method of authentication. Over the past decade, many businesses, government organizations and non-profits have been trying to solve the password conundrum and come up with an authentication method that is secure, easy and simple enough that your grandmother can [...]
