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Security

  • Amazon, WhatsApp score poorly in EFF’s annual privacy report

    By on 12 July, 2017

    When you sign up for the world's biggest services/apps, you're giving loads of information to these firms. But who can be trusted with your data? The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has released its annual "Who Has Your Back" report to answer this very question. The report grades some of the biggest companies in five categories, namely whether they follow best practices, tell users about government data requests, have a pro-user public policy, stand up to gag orders and promise not to sell out users. The worst offenders? US networks AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile and Verizon all scored one star out of five -- a...

  • SA’s Dept of Education website hacked with ‘I love Islamic State’ message

    By on 28 June, 2017

    If you're trying to access South Africa's Department of Basic Education's website at present, you can't. It's down. And there's a very good reason why. The Department took to Twitter to announce that its site has been "hacked". Our website has been hacked👇🏿 pic.twitter.com/ROK4cQChLd — Dep. Basic Education (@DBE_SA) June 28, 2017 "A short while ago we discovered that the Department's website has been hacked," begins an attached press release, published around 9pm Wednesday. Things then get gruesome. "The people who breached the website have since posted gory pictures of decapitated corpses, some of whom are children." The presser didn't go into specifics, but it did...

  • Petya or NotPetya, this is the world’s latest ransomware attack

    By on 28 June, 2017

    Ransomware is yet again sweeping across the world's computers today, and no, it's not WannaCry. It goes by a few names, but it's being commonly referred to as Petya or NotPetya by security experts. While the former was first discovered in 2016, the latter name refers to a newer strain of the ransomware. Yesterday, Petya or a derivative, reappeared in Ukraine and has since spread to countries as far east as Australia, and as far West as the US. While details about the nature of the attack and the attackers' intentions are unclear at present, we do know a few key factors...

  • WannaCry ransomware now affecting Australia’s traffic cameras

    By on 23 June, 2017

    Remember WannaCry? The fearsome ransomware package that infected over 250 000 computers in 150 countries earlier this year? Well, it's back, but not in the way you might've been expecting. According to a report by The Guardian, around 55 traffic cameras in the Australian state of Victoria have been affected by the virus. While the cameras have been operating normally, notes the Victorian department of justice, those found to have been handed incorrect fines, they will be scratched from the system. How nice. In May 2017, WannaCry ripped through the world's unpatched Windows machines, locking users out of their devices and forcing them to...

  • ‘Judy’ malware found on Google Play Store puts 36.5m users at risk

    By on 29 May, 2017

    Just when you thought that WannaCry would be the last of the big malware attacks to plague 2017, a new breed of nasty has appeared on the Google Play Store. And its name is Judy. According to a report published by security company CheckPoint, Judy "is an auto-clicking adware which was found on 41 apps developed by a Korean company". The malware gets its name from the usual (and rather adorable) protagonist of the games fronting the malware. In one particular case, users can "create delicious food with Judy". Sounds yum. Cleverly bypassing Google Play's security measures by masquerading behind a legitimate app,...

  • Zomato hacked, 17m users’ personal data leaked to the dark web

    By on 19 May, 2017

    If you frequent the India-based restaurant and food review app Zomato, you should probably change your password immediately. That's the message conveyed in a blog post by the company on Thursday, after it announced that more than 10% of the company's user records were stolen by a hacker. "The reason you're reading this blog post is because of a recent discovery by our security team - about 17 million user records from our database were stolen. The stolen information has user email addresses and hashed passwords," it noted, adding over 120-million people visit Zomato monthly. For those who had their user information stolen,...

  • Edward Snowden reminds us all that he was right after WannaCry fallout

    By on 17 May, 2017

    It's hard being right all the time, especially if you're Edward Snowden. The infamous whistleblower who curently calls Russia home spoke on Monday via video link at a Washington DC security conference. And he just couldn't help reminding everyone that the NSA sucks. "They knew about this flaw in U.S. software, U.S. infrastructure, hospitals around the world, these auto plants and so on and so forth, but they did not report it to Microsoft until after the NSA learned that that flaw had been stolen by some outside group," the former CIA contractor noted, according to a Newsweek transcript. WannaCry infected over 300...

  • Could WannaCry ransomware be linked to North Korea?

    By on 16 May, 2017

    WannaCry, the ransomware package that wreaked havoc across the world's Windows machinery this past weekend, might have links to North Korea, security experts revealed. The ransomware swept across the world last Friday, infecting over a quarter-million Windows machines across 150 countries. It remains a threat, but infection rates have somewhat slowed. According to a report published by Reuters, South Korean security researchers found coding similarities in WannaCry's earlier versions, and a different malware used by the Lazarus Group -- a hacking collective with ties to North Korea. These findings have also been noted by Google security researcher Neel Mehta, Symantec and Kaspersky. Shared...

  • WannaCry ransomware infects a quarter million computers in 150 countries

    By on 15 May, 2017

    WannaCry wins 2017's prize for most ominously named ransomware, and it has seemingly lived up to its name. A worldwide attack involving the ransomware swept through personal computers, companies and government institutions beginning on Friday 12 May. By Sunday, over 230 000 computers in more than 150 countries, including South Africa, were infected. Straight out of an episode of Mr. Robot, WannaCry (Wcry, WannaCrypt, WanaCrypt0r 2.0, or Wanna Decryptor) is a malicious software package that infects computers running Microsoft Windows. It's spread using an exploit developed by the NSA called EternalBlue which was leaked by a hacker collective in April. While Microsoft...

  • 3 hilarious (but scary) printer security stories from the internet [Native]

    By on 5 May, 2017

    Printers might seem like innocuous little office gadgets that do one job and one job alone, but they've become more vulnerable thanks to the internet. While human beings' reliance on the web expands, so does the ability for baddies to crack their security protocols. With that in mind, here are three previous moments in history that printers were the victims of rather comical, if not potentially catastrophic, security stories. -> YOUR PRINTER HAS BEEN PWNED <- In February 2017, a hacker using the alias Stackoverflowin took control of over 150 000 printers across the globe to probe a point. And to distribute memes. Although...

  • Google Docs’ latest phishing scam was bad news for journalists

    By on 4 May, 2017

    A Google Docs phishing attack, that paraded as a genuine link to a shared document, caused widespread panic on the internet Wednesday. On the same day that Facebook's WhatsApp was down for the count, some Google users (Fortune's Jeff John Roberts suggests that the scam was targeted at journalists) received an email with a seemingly normal Google Docs link. Closer inspection revealed a few oddities. The sender of the mail is the rather hilarious "hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh@mailinator.com" but the consequences of clicking the mail aren't. Taking unsuspecting users to a faux OAUTH authentication page, suggesting that Google Docs requires authorisation to open the document. The...

  • Ask these questions when buying a secure printer [Native]

    By on 24 April, 2017

    Believe it or not, but security is an important factor to consider when buying a new printer for the office these days. But what exactly does that entail then? Well, we've got a few security-minded questions you should keep in mind before splashing out on a printer. Can you set up access IDs? We've touched on this before, but access IDs are a great way to keep track of who's printing what. Whether you're worried about hacks or abuse, it's worth having anyway. Most printers these days do support access IDs and similar authentication systems, so you're virtually guaranteed to have it on...

  • 5 neat tips to secure your printer [Native]

    By on 18 April, 2017

    There have been numerous stories surrounding the dodgy nature of today's connected printers. In fact, one security expert claimed that the printer was the "worst device" on the internet. That doesn't mean that your connected printer is a lost hope though, as there are several ways to shore up your printer's defenses... Set a secure WiFi and router password It might seem like a no-brainer, but you'll want to make sure that your WiFi connection is secure. After all, it's one of your first lines of defense. If people can access your WiFi connection, then there's a chance that they'll be able...

  • Are printers now ‘worst’ for enterprise security? [Native]

    By on 29 March, 2017

    This is a native advertising article. To find out more, read our guide to native advertising versus sponsored content. Printers might not be the flashiest gadgets in the office, but recent research reveals that they're still being ignored when it comes to security. Many printers today feature internet connectivity, allowing users to wirelessly print documents and more. Of course, any time a gadget has an internet connection, chances are high that it'll be targeted by someone… In fact, a BitDefender researcher told The Register that printers are now the dodgiest connected devices around. "The router is no longer the worst device on the internet. It's...

  • Verified Twitter accounts post swastikas in Turkish hack

    By on 15 March, 2017

    Last week, the Netherlands barred two Turkish ministers from speaking to expatriates ahead of a national memorandum. On 16 April, Turkey will be voting whether or not to allow Turkish President Erdogan to stay in power until 2029. And the president did not take the slight well: according to Fortune.com, Turkey warned that it would retaliate in the "harshest ways." Apparently these ways include Twitter hacks. Last night, Turkish hackers targeted verified accounts to spew Erdogan propaganda across the platform. Rough translation: “#NaziGermany👌#NaziNetherlands, a little👋#OTTOMAN SLAP for you, see you on #April16th. Can’t read it🇹🇷LEARN Turkish #RT” — Alex Hern (@alexhern) March 15, 2017 Hundreds of accounts were...