Job interviews missed, work and wedding plans disrupted, children unable to fly home with their adoptive parents -- the consequences keep proliferating in the aftermath of a database outage that... read more
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Security
Twitter acquires password security startup Mitro
Submitted by l33tdawg on Fri, 2014-08-01 01:36
Twitter has acquired a small startup called Mitro, which focuses on password security.
Mitro announced Thursday that it is joining Twitter in its New York office and will be "focusing on a variety of geo-related projects." The company will not be integrated into the social network, but rather keep working on its own products that let several people share passwords to one account.
Hackers can tap USB devices in new attacks, researcher warns
Submitted by l33tdawg on Fri, 2014-08-01 01:28
USB devices such as keyboards, thumb-drives and mice can be used to hack into personal computers in a potential new class of attacks that evade all known security protections, a top computer researcher has revealed.
Karsten Nohl, chief scientist with Berlin's SR Labs, noted that hackers could load malicious software onto tiny, low-cost computer chips that control functions of USB devices but which have no built-in shields against tampering with their code.
'Internet of Things' full of vulnerabilities
Submitted by l33tdawg on Thu, 2014-07-31 01:38
A recent research report [PDF] from HP's Fortify on Demand division found that seven out of ten of the most commonly used Internet of Things consumer devices contain serious security vulnerabilities.
Fortify on Demand said that some of the vulnerabilities include insufficient or non existent authentication mechanisms with weak passwords, data and firmware/software being transmitted in the clear without encryption, as well as insecure web interfaces for the devices.
BitTorrent's Bleep messenger is a secure, decentralized chat platform
Submitted by l33tdawg on Thu, 2014-07-31 01:35
There's a distinctive sound your computer makes when an online friend is trying to get your attention. Sometimes its high pitched, other times its a low, warm tone, but regardless of your chat software, the onomatopoeia probably reads something like "bleep" which -- by no coincidence, we're sure -- is what BitTorrent is calling its new messaging platform. Unlike Google Hangouts, AIM or Skype, however, Bleep is a decentralized communication platform, design specifically to protect user metadata and anonymity.
Hackers have compromised the once anonymous Tor network
Submitted by l33tdawg on Thu, 2014-07-31 01:34
The Tor anonymous encryption service offers internet users a way to surf the web with anonymity and prides itself on the level of security it offers. Well it looks as though the network was compromised earlier this year along with some user data, according to a recent Tor developer blog post. It also said that those who used Tor between early February and July 4th of this year "should assume" they have been in some way affected by the attack.