Security news

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 is fueling a deepfake porn crisis in South Korea. What's behind it—and how can it be fixed?

It's difficult to talk about artificial intelligence without talking about deepfake porn—a harmful AI byproduct that has been used to target everyone from Taylor Swift to Australian school girls.

Security

How did they get my data? I uncovered the hidden web of networks behind telemarketers

Last year, I started getting a lot of unsolicited phone calls, mainly from people trying to sell me things. This came as a surprise because, as a data scientist, I am very careful about what personal information I let out ...

Business

Ukraine bans Telegram messenger app on state-issued devices because of Russian security threat

Ukraine has banned government officials, military personnel and other defense and critical infrastructure workers from installing the popular Telegram messaging app on state-issued devices, describing the move as necessary ...

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 ...

Software

Usable data hacked from air-gapped computer

A team of software and information systems engineers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in Israel, has demonstrated an ability to extract useful data from an air-gapped computer. The group has posted a paper to the arXiv ...

Security

Five notorious cyberattacks that targeted governments

Warfare is no longer confined to physical battlefields. In the digital age, a new front has emerged—cyberspace. Here, countries clash not with bullets and bombs, but with lines of code and sophisticated malware.

Business

BBC urges staff to ditch TikTok over data fears

The BBC said Monday that it had told staff to delete Chinese-owned video app TikTok unless it was needed for business reasons, with Western institutions increasingly taking a harder stance over data collection fears.

Business

Why TikTok's security risks keep raising fears

TikTok is once again fending off claims that its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, would share user data from its popular video-sharing app with the Chinese government, or push propaganda and misinformation on its behalf.

Business

UK bans TikTok on government phones on security grounds

British authorities said Thursday that they are banning the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok from government mobile phones on security grounds, following similar moves by the U.S. and European Union.

Consumer & Gadgets

This is what happens when your phone is spying on you

Smartphone spyware apps that allow people to spy on each other are not only hard to notice and detect, they also will easily leak the sensitive personal information they collect, says a team of computer scientists from New ...

Business

UK cybersecurity center looking into risks posed by TikTok

Britain's security minister said Tuesday he has asked the country's National Cyber Security Center to review threats posed by TikTok amid calls for the U.K. to impose a ban on the Chinese-owned social media app.

Security

'Indirect prompt injection' attacks could upend chatbots

ChatGPT's explosive growth has been breathtaking. Barely two months after its introduction last fall, 100 million users had tapped into the AI chatbot's ability to engage in playful banter, argue politics, generate compelling ...

Security

Is there an end in sight for Oakland's ransomware crisis?

A ransomware attack against Oakland that has affected city services and exposed reams of sensitive personnel data is creating a nightmare for city officials who aren't sure what it will take to resolve the crisis.

Security

Health data breach hitting Congress 'could be extraordinary'

House leaders say the impact of a hack of a health insurance marketplace used by members of Congress "could be extraordinary," exposing sensitive personal data of lawmakers, their employees and families. In all, thousands ...

Security

ECB to test banks' cyber defences as risks grow

The European Central Bank will next year test eurozone lenders' defences against cyberattacks, a top official said Thursday, as the risk of hacking attempts is seen to have increased since the pandemic and Russia's invasion ...