security

As if the smartphone platform wars weren’t bad enough, the rivalry between iOS and Android also threatens to invade our homes. Lines are drawn between Apple’s HomeKit and Google’s Android, with some smart home products supporting one but not the other. Fortunately, companies like Schlage want to be embrace as many as they can. Better late than never, the security company is proudly announcing Android support in their Sense Smart Deadbolt. The cherry on top is the new Sense Wi-Fi Adapter that will let you keep in touch with the Smart Deadbolt no matter where you are.

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Drone-maker DJI has added a new offline mode for privacy-minded pilots, cutting its quadcopters' internet connection for more surreptitious flights. The new Local Data Mode comes, DJI says, after repeated requests from enterprise and government pilots for a setting which would limit communications to just those between the drone and the controller. It comes amid security precautions by the US Army that saw DJI's aircraft grounded.

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There are pros and cons to the way Apple screens apps that go into its App Store and the way Google prefers to rely on automation to preserve the quality and security of Android apps. The latter methods is more efficient and more open to the hundreds of apps submitted to the Google Play Store. Unfortunately, that does mean that some less than innocent apps do slip in through the cracks. Case in point is a family of spyware collectively named “SonicSpy”, which was able to bypass Google’s automated bouncer, allowing infected apps to join the Google Play Store list, potentially infecting unsuspected Android users.

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Google has added a new security feature to its Gmail app for iOS, alerting users when they encounter a link that Google finds suspicious. Specifically, the iOS app will warn users when they tap on a suspicious link, potentially stopped them from falling victim to a phishing attempt. Google explains that if users see this link, it means it is 'likely unsafe,' and so users should triple-check and think twice before deciding to proceed anyway.

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The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update will see Microsoft change how it works with third-party antivirus developers, after being accused of anticompetitive practices. The change in policy comes after one high-profile security firm, Kaspersky Labs, slammed Microsoft back in November 2016 over what it claimed was a concerted effort to squeeze out third-party antivirus software and give priority to Microsoft's own Windows Defender. It wasn't just talk, either, with Kaspersky also filing complaints with antitrust investigators in both the EU and Russia.

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A complicated, mixed up password is not any more secure than a password that's all lower-cased letters. The reason the internet told us (and continues to tell us) to make a password with numbers and capital and lower-cased characters and punctuation in it is a paper called "Digital Identity Guidelines." This nightmare of a paper was published at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the rules therein were based on pre-digital age security nonsense.

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As most of us (hopefully) already know, the internet can be a dangerous place when you don't practice proper password safety procedures. Just what do you need to do to keep your passwords secure, though? As it turns out, one of the writers of a document that has been used to create password policy for years says the suggestions he laid down are no longer valid.

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Smartphones from Blu are one again available for sale on Amazon. The budget Android devices were pulled from the site for the second time earlier this week over evidence they were still shipping with Chinese-linked spyware installed. Amazon has confirmed the relisting, and Blu has said that this incident was a "false alarm" and has cleared everything up.

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Investigators are following the trail of the WannaCry attackers' Bitcoin ransom, with one digital currency asset change service confirming they were used to convert the nefarious funds. The notorious ransomeware took advantage of security loopholes in older versions of Windows to seize control of users' systems, locking up their files until they coughed up $300 or more. That cash, amounting to more than 50 BTC, had been sitting in digital wallets until earlier this week.

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Earlier this year, the WannaCry virus infected computer systems around the world. Most notably, the ransomware was responsible for crippling hospital systems in the UK, but it also spread to countries like Russia, German, Turkey, and Spain before it was brought down. This week, one of the researchers responsible for stopping WannaCry was arrested in Nevada.

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Bitcoin wallets related to the WannaCry ransomware attacks and stuffed with more than $140,000 worth of the cryptocurrency have been emptied, experts say. The balance of the various accounts, which amounted to 52.2 BTC, was unexpectedly drained overnight. Funds began to mount in early May 2017, as victims of WannaCry coughed up the virtual cash needed to unlock their data.

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The Pentagon has expanded a pilot program to allow some top officials to access documents with a 'secret' classification using 8-inch tablets. The move follows a similar program that gave some officials access to both 'secret' and 'top secret' classified documents on smartphones. With this program, the government hopes to make it easier for these individuals to access data when out of the office.

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