Security - SlashGear

‘security’ Stories

Windows 8 security updates said to be less intrusive

Shane McGlaun, Nov 16th 2011 Discuss [8]

There are few things that get my day off to a worse start than sitting down at my desk, waking my computer up, and realizing a security update has been applied that rebooted my computer. I also hate when I am working and the security update reboot notice pops up all the time. I know I am not the only one that has the same feeling of ire towards these things. Read The Full Story

iOS trojan exploit closed in 5.0.1, all may rest easy

Chris Burns, Nov 10th 2011 Discuss [0]

Earlier this week it became apparent that there was an exploitable hole in the app development and distribution process discovered by now-excommunicated coder Charlie Miller - what we're to understand today in the update to iOS 5.0.1 is that this exploit has been completely done away with. The story surrounding this exploit hit the fan when Miller was kicked out of the iOS Developer Program after telling Apple (and the rest of the world) about the issue. Today the story is closed (for everyone but Miller) due to a line of confirmation in the iOS 5.0.1 security update log - so everyone can sit back down and stop tossing hands left and right wildly. Read The Full Story

Apple kicks iOS security whistleblower from Developer Program

Chris Davies, Nov 8th 2011 Discuss [18]

A whistleblowing iOS app developer has seen his license revoked after revealing an Apple bug that could allow trojan software to infect iPhones and iPads. Coder Charlie Miller manages to get his test app - which uses a flaw in Apple's code signing policies to subsequently contact a remote server and potentially allow a hacker to suck photos and contacts from the device, along other things - through Apple's App Store approvals process, Forbes reports, but after revealing the issue was ejected from the iOS Developer Program. Read The Full Story

Apple Security head allegedly steps down

Shane McGlaun, Nov 7th 2011 Discuss [3]

Over the last few years, Apple has had some serious issues with security of its prototype devices. Before the iPhone 4 launched an engineer that was testing the device got drunk in a bar in California and left the prototype device on the barstool. It was picked up by a couple guys that eventually sold it to Gizmodo. Back in August another prototype iPhone was lost in a bar. Read The Full Story

Anonymous #OpCartel ends over fears of death and violence

Shane McGlaun, Nov 7th 2011 Discuss [8]

I don't think any of us though there was a redeeming quality about Anonymous and the way they hack credit card information and other personal details about people and then offered it up publically. Not too long ago, the hacker collective took on a project that had some redeeming qualities in an effort to out pedophiles online that were looking at child porn online. Read The Full Story

US points the finger at China and Russia for cybercrime

Shane McGlaun, Nov 4th 2011 Discuss [2]

The US is pointing the finger directly at China and Russia when it comes to cybercrime and hacking. Intelligence officials pointed the finger at the two countries and accused them of stealing sensitive high-tech data for their own economic gain. The accusation is the most upfront call out that the US has done so far despite the repeated attacks that have been conducted against the US and companies operating in the US. Read The Full Story

iOS 5.0.1 beta fixes battery woes, enables iPad gestures

Chris Davies, Nov 3rd 2011 Discuss [11]

Apple's iOS 5.0.1 beta - seeded to developers yesterday - not only promises to address the iOS 5 battery life issues many owners have experienced, but also fixes some of the more vocally complained about problems for the iPad and iPad 2. Original iPad owners discovered that the full release of iOS 5 removed the gesture support present in the beta version, something which has now been added back in with iOS 5.0.1, MacRumors reports. Read The Full Story

Anonymous ramps Pedophile campaign with IP honeypot

Chris Davies, Nov 3rd 2011 Discuss [3]

Hack collective Anonymous has ramped up its anti-pedophile campaign, reportedly tricking those attempting to browse clandestine sites hosting child pornography into accessing a service that would identify their IP address and, subsequently, identify and location. According to a statement attributed to the loosely-banded group, a custom Firefox button was developed and links placed to it - along with a fake Tor update message - on the "Hard Candy" and "Lolita City" sites offering the illegal content. Those who clicked it "would then be forwarded to our special forensics server and log the incoming IP and destination." Read The Full Story

Nitro hack steals R&D and defense secrets

Chris Davies, Nov 1st 2011 Discuss [1]

Hackers used email scams distributing a notorious malware tool to steal research & development secrets from chemical manufacturers, defense companies and other targets in a huge industrial espionage attack dubbed Nitro, it has been revealed. Poison Ivy, a Windows-based trojan which allows covert remote access to infected PCs, was distributed among firms between April and September this year, according to a new paper [pdf link] from security firm Symantec, with 29 chemical sector companies and a further 19 - primarily in defense - in other sectors targeted. Read The Full Story

BlackBerry monitoring reportedly pacified India; Skype & Twitter next in sights

Chris Davies, Oct 28th 2011 Discuss [1]

RIM quietly set up a Mumbai data center, so as to allow the Indian government easier surveillance of BlackBerry users' messages, according to sources, though official demand for access continues to outstrip what the Canadian company offers. Facing threats of deactivating BlackBerry service nationwide, RIM supposedly established a small facility to specifically deal with disclosure requests, the WSJ's sources tell them; the Indian government must follow a set, legal procedure demanding message decoding on a person by person basis. Read The Full Story

Columns

Occupy Oakland Police Brutality YouTube videos stay after police demands to delete

Chris Burns, Oct 27th 2011 Discuss [91]

Google has today updated a transparency report which in part very suggestively points toward the videos you may have encountered over the past 24 hours that document an apparent set of police brutality cases taking place during the Occupy Oakland events of October 2011. Apparently they’ve had requests and/or demands from law enforcement agencies to take down videos of the same nature as the videos in question for fear that they would “defame” law enforcement officials. Google has decidedly refused in the past, and due to their promotion of such a stance this week, seems quite likely to be refusing again for the events at Occupy Oakland. The reason this bit of content is a Column instead of your everyday average post is that it contains a bit more conjecture than your average news story – aka you’re with me now, ladies and gentlemen, so see if you agree.