Malicious Apps Persistently Appearing on Google Play and Using Google Icons
Seven apps have been discovered reappearing on the Play store under a different name and publisher even after these have been reported. The Google Play app store has a reputation as the safest place online to get Android apps, and Google does a good job of advising users to limit exposure to malware and other…
Hide ‘N Seek IoT Botnet Can Survive Device Reboots
The Internet of Things (IoT) botnet known as Hide ‘N Seek that first emerged in January can now achieve persistence on infected devices, Bitdefender reports. Discovered toward the end of April, the latest version of the malware also includes code that allows it to target more vulnerabilities and new types of devices, the security firm discovered,…
Mobile first: Security concerns and solutions
The majority of people – 83%, in fact – use their mobile devices to go online. 89% of these users connect to the internet via a mobile device every day. However, their security is severely lacking in almost all aspects. As advanced as their connectivity is, mobile users rarely know how to ensure their device safety. 28% of…
NSA tripled surveillance of phone records, collected over 534 million records in 2017
The NSA gobbled up more than three times as many records of phone calls and text messages of Americans last year than it did in 2016, according to a transparency report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). The fifth annual report (pdf), released May 4, revealed that the NSA collected…
Rogue One — the best cybersecurity videotraining
Last year we analyzed an incident depicted in Star Wars: Episode IV. However, we got the feeling even back then that the security failures that led to the destruction of the Death Star were only the tip of the iceberg. The Empire’s problems with information systems security are clearly of a more galactic nature. Fortunately, researchers from Lucasfilm…
Uber Updates Bug Bounty Program
Uber last week updated the legal terms of its bug bounty program and provided guidance for good faith vulnerability research. The changes come just months after the ride-sharing giant admitted paying a couple of individuals as part of an effort to cover up a massive security incident. Uber says it has addressed nearly 200 flaws for…
Should governments regulate social media data collection?
Venafi announced the results of a survey querying 512 security professionals attending RSA Conference 2018. The survey evaluated opinions on the intersection of cyber security, privacy threats and government regulation. According to the survey, 70 percent of respondents say governments should regulate the collection of personal data by social media companies to protect user privacy. However,…
We’re not going on a summer holiday
You know the saying: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Cybercriminals seem to have taken that truism to heart, because they continue to reuse the same old scams — and they never fail to find victims. Last summer, social media worldwide were flooded with reposts of fake airline giveaways. We covered it at the time,…
Unsurprisingly, most won’t be ready for GDPR on 25th May
With less than a month until the GDPR comes into force, many companies will not be ready when it takes effect on May 25th, 2018. 62% of IT Decision Makers (ITDMs) surveyed describe themselves as ‘confident’ in the build-up, with 1 in 5 (18%) saying they are nervous, according to WinMagic. Only half (51%) of companies say they have…
Global AI business value to reach $1.2 trillion in 2018
Global business value derived from artificial intelligence (AI) is projected to total $1.2 trillion in 2018, an increase of 70 percent from 2017, according to Gartner. AI-derived business value is forecast to reach $3.9 trillion in 2022. The Gartner AI-derived business value forecast assesses the total business value of AI across all the enterprise vertical sectors covered…