Security news

Security

Each year, landmines kill residents of war-torn countries. This innovative tool could save lives

As he grew up in Bogotá, Colombia, Mateo Dulce Rubio would hear a familiar news story every few days—someone had stepped on another landmine. The explosion had killed or injured them. Though the capital city was far from ...

Security

US seizes internet domains allegedly used by Russian hackers

The United States announced the seizure on Thursday of 41 internet domains allegedly used by Russian intelligence agents to try to gain access to the computers and email accounts of Pentagon, State Department and other US ...

Business

California enacts law to protect brain data

A new California law extends consumer privacy protection to brainwave data gathered by implants or wearable devices.

Security

Police are probing apparent cyber vandalism on Wi-Fi networks at UK train stations

U.K. transport officials and police said Thursday they are investigating a "cyber-security incident" after users of public Wi-Fi networks at the country's biggest railway stations reported being shown anti-Muslim messages.

Security

AI model beats CAPTCHA every time

A trio of AI researchers at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, has modified an AI-based, picture-processing model to solve Google's reCAPTCHAv2 human-testing system.

Security

Encrypted 'Ghost' app: What we know

Police revealed Tuesday they had infiltrated and taken down an encrypted chat app called Ghost used by criminals across the world.

Security

'Good complexity' can make hospital networks more cybersecure

In May, a major cyberattack disabled clinical operations for nearly a month at Ascension, a health care provider that includes 140 hospitals across the U.S. Investigators tracked the problem to malicious ransomware that had ...

Security

New tools use AI 'fingerprints' to detect altered photos, videos

As artificial intelligence networks become more skilled and easier to access, digitally manipulated "deepfake" photos and videos are increasingly difficult to detect. New research led by Binghamton University, State University ...

Computer Sciences

More efficient security for cloud-based machine learning

A novel encryption method devised by MIT researchers secures data used in online neural networks, without dramatically slowing their runtimes. This approach holds promise for using cloud-based neural networks for medical-image ...

Security

Google clarifies location-tracking policy

Google has revised a help page that erroneously described how its "Location History" setting works, clarifying for users that it still tracks their location even if they turn the setting off.

Security

Intel processor vulnerability could put millions of PCs at risk

A newly discovered processor vulnerability could potentially put secure information at risk in any Intel-based PC manufactured since 2008. It could affect users who rely on a digital lockbox feature known as Intel Software ...

Security

Tencent Blade Team pair talk about smart speaker hack

Security researchers turned themselves into hackers this month to demo the way a smart speaker could be turned into a spy. The researchers took their story to DefCon 2018. They said they achieved remote eavesdropping. Both ...

Internet

Holding law enforcement accountable for electronic surveillance

When the FBI filed a court order in 2016 commanding Apple to unlock the San Bernandino shooter's iPhone, the news made headlines across the globe. Yet every day there are tens tens of thousands of of other court orders asking ...

Security

New Spectre cyberthreat evades patches

"Spectre" was a prescient name for the processor vulnerability that takes advantage of speculative execution. Since its initial discovery in January, 2018, at least three variants of the attack have been found.

Security

Apps make it easy for domestic abusers to spy

Thousands of apps that allow domestic abusers to secretly spy on their partners are simple to install, difficult to detect, and marketed through a murky web of online advertising, blogs and videos explaining how to use them ...

Security

Is your smartphone spying on you?

Some popular apps on your phone may be secretly taking screenshots of your activity and sending them to third parties, according to a new study by a team of Northeastern researchers.