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.

Security

A security technique to fool would-be cyber attackers

Multiple programs running on the same computer may not be able to directly access each other's hidden information, but because they share the same memory hardware, their secrets could be stolen by a malicious program through ...

Consumer & Gadgets

QR codes: Is it safe to scan?

The Coinbase Super Bowl commercial that featured a bouncing QR code set to music was so popular it caused the cryptocurrency app to temporarily crash. What does this tell us about how these codes are being used and how safe ...

Software

Google to overhaul ad tracking system on Android devices

Google announced plans Wednesday to limit ad tracking on its Android operating system running on billions of devices, a sensitive privacy issue that rival Apple has already moved to address on its iPhones.

Security

COVID tests may leak personal data

Last year, over 14 million PCR tests were performed in Sweden. Researchers at Umeå University have discovered that personal data has been exposed by a private company handling test certificates. "This is something that may ...

Energy & Green Tech

Blocking microgrid cyberattacks to keep the power flowing

Power grids have become far more complex in recent decades due to energy demands, environmental regulations and small-scale renewable energy systems that turn businesses and individuals into combined consumer-producers. One ...

Security

How thieves manage to steal cryptocurrency

US officials announced on Tuesday they had recovered $3.6 billion of bitcoin stolen in a 2016, throwing a light on the scams that surround cryptocurrency.

Security

Fingerprinting the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the growing number and type of devices that are connected to the internet. IoT devices range from Amazon Alexa and Google Home to bluetooth coffee makers and toothbrushes. Unlike cell ...

Security

A sign of ransomware growth: Gangs now arbitrate disputes

Cyber criminal gangs are getting increasingly adept at hacking and becoming more professional, even setting up an arbitration system to resolve payment disputes among themselves, according to a new report by the United States, ...