online security Archives

Employees download malware every four seconds
By Hadlee Simons on 21 September, 2016
A new pair of studies reveals that employees are downloading unknown malware at a staggering rate. The Check Point 2016 Security Report and the SANS 2016 Threat Landscape Study revealed "critical challenges" facing businesses, Check Point wrote in an emailed press statement. The Check Point report saw the company analyse the activity of 31 000 Check Point "gateways" around the world. The SANS study, on the other hand, saw 300 IT security professionals being surveyed. "Researchers found a 9x increase in the amount of unknown malware plaguing businesses. This was fuelled by the employees -- who downloaded a new unknown malware every four...
FBI chief suggests you tape over your webcam
By Andy Walker: Gearburn Editor on 16 September, 2016
People might call you paranoid if you encrypt your smartphone, or boast an endless array of 12+ character passwords, but new comments made by the FBI chief James Comey's webcam comments will make you feel a little more normal. Comey, while speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, called taping over your laptop's webcam -- to prevent potential prying eyes from snooping -- one of the "sensible things" human beings should be doing, akin to locking your house, or patting your wallet before disembarking the plane. "You go into any government office and we all have the little camera...

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Nokia report: phones see 96% increase in malware
By Staff Reporter on 5 September, 2016
Finnish company Nokia may no longer be a staple in the smartphone manufacturing space, but that doesn't mean it's totally out of the loop regarding software. The company's latest edition of its malware paper-- officially dubbed the Nokia Threat Intelligence Report -- uncovers some dark numbers in the world of malicious smartphone software. How dark? Well, for one, smartphones are becoming increasingly targeted in malware attacks. The report, which covers the first half of 2016, discovered a 96% increase in the average smartphone infection rate, up from 0.25% to 0.49%. This number peaked in April, when one out of every 120...
Google login pages aren’t safe at all, research finds
By Andy Walker: Gearburn Editor on 31 August, 2016
Those comforting Google login pages might not be safe at all, according to a security researcher's latest findings. Taking a deeper look at Google's service login pages, researcher Aidan Woods discovered that it's "possible to seamlessly insert any Google service at the end of the login process". In short, this flaw allows dark lords of the web to insert additional parameters, websites or even Google Docs files into the URL of a login page. The website would be hidden aesthetically, instead showing a Google login page. To use Woods' much simpler explanation: Using an existing open redirect, it is now possible to send...
Security vs productivity: the mobile device management conundrum
By Viesturs Zalaiskalns on 8 August, 2016
Given the significant productivity benefits delivered by mobility, it is unsurprising to note that it is fast becoming a way of life in many organisations. In fact, Gartner predicts that as many as half of all employers will have instituted mandatory bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies within the next year. There are many reasons why mobility, and therefore BYOD, is taking off within enterprises. While employees can clearly be more productive in an office environment when using a laptop or PC, being able to utilise a mobile device for the same tasks means they are able to work from anywhere, and at...
Don’t lose yourself: avoid identity theft on social media
By Jared Lawrence on 1 August, 2016
More than three-quarters of American adults are active on social media, and the numbers total approximately 2.3-billion people worldwide. By living with and through our technology, it is easier than ever before to reconnect with friends, stay in touch with family and meet new people across previously unassailable physical distances. But this also means that the likes of identity theft is becoming a bigger problem. Unfortunately, in stark contrast to real-world interactions, there are few reliable ways to be sure a person is who they purport to be on the internet. The proliferation of social media tools has created new space...
Niantic CEO John Hanke hacked by OurMine
By Staff Reporter on 1 August, 2016
We've seen Google's, Twitter's and even Facebook's CEOs suffer social media account hacks this year, but it seems that hackers have an appetite for game development companies too. In what seems to be OurMine's latest attack, the CEO of Niantic John Henke woke Sunday to find the lock of his Twitter account picked. Niantic -- known as the developer of Pokemon Go -- is currently enjoying some monumental success after the game's staged release, but while its CEO might have a taste for inventive games, his password creation skills are apparently less than competent. OurMine has hacked Niantic CEO John Hanke's...
Edward Snowden working on spy-proof smartphone case for cyber-sleuths
By Matthew Alexander on 25 July, 2016
Notorious public whistleblower Edward Snowden and famous hacker Andrew “Bunnie” Huang are co-developing a smartphone case that aims to protect users from wireless device snooping. According to the duo's paper "Against the Law: Countering Lawful Abuses of Digital Surveillance", the device will prevent journalists falling foul to their "own tools". "Front-line journalists are high-value targets, and their enemies will spare no expense to silence them. Unfortunately, journalists can be betrayed by their own tools. Their smartphones are also the perfect tracking device," they add. The device, called the introspection engine, will clip onto a device, and checks if a phone is transmitting radio signals....
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s Twitter account briefly hijacked by OurMine
By Staff Reporter on 10 July, 2016
The latest high-profile CEO to wake up to a social media account breach is none other than Twitter head Jack Dorsey. The world's first tweeter and founder of Square rather ironically this weekend found his Twitter account hijacked by Robin Hood security collective OurMine. While the collective didn't post anything incriminating or embarrassing, OurMine was sure to use Dorsey's account to advertise its own security business, a trend that we've seen from the group's previous attacks. This year, the collective has targeted Google's CEO Sundar Pichai, Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Other celebrities including musician Deadmau5 and actor Channing Tatum, have also...
1 in 5 South Africans don’t care about passwords, 8.8m hit by ‘cyber crime’
By Andy Walker: Gearburn Editor on 6 July, 2016
South Africans have a lot to deal with. Whether its political news, the scourge of crime or one of its national sporting teams' latest dismal performance, it's tough being South African. Symantec's Norton Cybersecurity Insights Report has just given South African internet users another thing to worry about. The report's findings suggest that 8.8-million South Africans fell victim to online crime in the past year -- that's around 18% of South Africans. According to Symantec, South Africans also really love dinner and dating: "58% would rather cancel dinner plans with their best friend than have to cancel their credit/debit cards after...

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Employees share passwords: here’s what that means for your business
By Kayla Matthews on 17 June, 2016
Sometimes employees feel they need to supplement their income, and a surprising few will even go as far as sell company secrets to do so. One in five employees say they would sell a company password to a third party, according to a recent survey. It’s an alarming number for employers. Here is a look at the survey's findings, what they mean for businesses and what businesses can do to protect their privacy. Password management risks A recent survey commissioned by identity management company SailPoint and conducted by market research company VansonBourne found a number of startling tidbits that should get business...
TeamViewer confirms compromised accounts, blames other services
By Hadlee Simons on 6 June, 2016
TeamViewer has confirmed that an unspecified number of accounts on the remote desktop support service have been compromised. In a blog post discussing new security features, the company included an open letter to TeamViewer users, informing them of the news. The company pinned the blame on compromised services elsewhere though. "As you have probably heard, there have been unprecedented large scale data thefts on popular social media platforms and other web service providers. Unfortunately, credentials stolen in these external breaches have been used to access TeamViewer accounts, as well as other services," the firm explained. Read more: 427m leaked passwords surface from enormous 2013 MySpace...
427m leaked passwords surface from enormous 2013 MySpace data breach
By Andy Walker: Gearburn Editor on 1 June, 2016
Remember MySpace? If you do, you were probably a teenager when N'SYNC was a thing, and the Y2K bug was threatening to destroy the world. But it remains relevant as ever in 2016, even if it is for all the wrong reasons. Back in June 2013, MySpace experienced something of a security breach. Hackers gained access to "email addresses, Myspace usernames, and Myspace passwords", details the company's blog, but more importantly, this breach affected those "Myspace accounts created prior to June 11, 2013." That means practically everyone who used the old MySpace platform was, and is, at risk. The breach is reportedly...

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6 things you need to know about protecting yourself from the latest online scams
By Richard Keymer on 16 October, 2014
With credit card fraud and internet scams an ever-present threat across the globe, as with other types of crime, incidences of banking card fraud tend to increase over the festive season. For this reason internet users should be particularly cautious during the run-up to the 2014 festive season. And while there is ongoing coverage in the media of the various scams taking place locally and internationally, in my experience many internet users are still at a loss as to the various methods hackers may use to gain access to confidential banking information, and how best to keep...
14 big security predictions for 2014
By Doros Hadjizenonos on 13 December, 2013
Towards the end of last year, my top five predicted security threats for 2013 were: social engineering, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), internal threats, BYOD, and cloud. All five predictions were realised; especially internal threats, with Edward Snowden’s NSA security breach being among the biggest data leaks ever by an insider. Like most IT security professionals, I really want my predictions not to come true: I would prefer organisations didn’t get hacked, infected by malware, or suffer data breaches. But by predicting the next wave of threats, we hope to help organisations stay on top of the evolving tactics...

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