U.S. investigators are exercising a broad legal authority to force suspects to unlock their smartphones. In a recent case, they demanded that anyone found inside a California residence comply by surrendering their fingerprints.In May, the federal prosecutors made the request as part of a search warrant, according to a court filing uncovered by Forbes. Those fingerprints were crucial to unlocking the smartphones, the Department of Justice argued.However, the federal investigators went beyond asking for the fingerprints of one suspect. Instead, they the sought authority to "depress the fingerprints" of everyone located at the California property.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
U.S. investigators are exercising a broad legal authority to force suspects to unlock their smartphones. In a recent case, they demanded that anyone found inside a California residence comply by surrendering their fingerprints.In May, the federal prosecutors made the request as part of a search warrant, according to a court filing uncovered by Forbes. Those fingerprints were crucial to unlocking the smartphones, the Department of Justice argued.However, the federal investigators went beyond asking for the fingerprints of one suspect. Instead, they the sought authority to "depress the fingerprints" of everyone located at the California property.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Don't be surprised if your company decides to do away with password logins. A new survey has found that most organizations are leaning toward phasing out password authentication.The results comes from Wakefield Research, which surveyed 200 IT decision makers in the U.S. last month. Sixty-nine percent of the respondents said they will probably do away with passwords completely in the next five years.Password login systems, though commonplace, are too vulnerable to hacking, according to SecureAuth, the company that commissioned the study. Not surprisingly, SecureAuth sells alternatives to password-based logins.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Don't be surprised if your company decides to do away with password logins. A new survey has found that most organizations are leaning toward phasing out password authentication.The results comes from Wakefield Research, which surveyed 200 IT decision makers in the U.S. last month. Sixty-nine percent of the respondents said they will probably do away with passwords completely in the next five years.Password login systems, though commonplace, are too vulnerable to hacking, according to SecureAuth, the company that commissioned the study. Not surprisingly, SecureAuth sells alternatives to password-based logins.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Verizon has signaled that Yahoo's massive data breach may be enough reason to halt its US$4.8 billion deal to buy the internet company.On Thursday, Verizon's general counsel Craig Silliman said the company has a "reasonable basis" to believe that the breach involving 500 million Yahoo accounts has had a material impact on the acquisition. This could give the company room to back out or get a large discount."We're looking to Yahoo to demonstrate to us the full impact," he added. "If they believe that it's not, then they'll need to show us that."In response, Yahoo said, "We are confident in Yahoo’s value and we continue to work towards integration with Verizon."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Verizon has signaled that Yahoo's massive data breach may be enough reason to halt its US$4.8 billion deal to buy the internet company.On Thursday, Verizon's general counsel Craig Silliman said the company has a "reasonable basis" to believe that the breach involving 500 million Yahoo accounts has had a material impact on the acquisition. This could give the company room to back out or get a large discount."We're looking to Yahoo to demonstrate to us the full impact," he added. "If they believe that it's not, then they'll need to show us that."In response, Yahoo said, "We are confident in Yahoo’s value and we continue to work towards integration with Verizon."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Russian President Vladimir Putin is rejecting claims that his country is behind any U.S. election-related hacking, saying "hysteria" is fueling the allegations."This has nothing to do with Russia's interests," he said on Wednesday at an investors conference in Moscow.Putin made the comments after the U.S. publicly blamed the Russian government last Friday for hacking U.S. officials and political groups in an effort to influence the upcoming presidential election.Stolen documents from those hacks, including sensitive emails, have been leaking online over the past months, potentially hurting the election chances of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Russian President Vladimir Putin is rejecting claims that his country is behind any U.S. election-related hacking, saying "hysteria" is fueling the allegations."This has nothing to do with Russia's interests," he said on Wednesday at an investors conference in Moscow.Putin made the comments after the U.S. publicly blamed the Russian government last Friday for hacking U.S. officials and political groups in an effort to influence the upcoming presidential election.Stolen documents from those hacks, including sensitive emails, have been leaking online over the past months, potentially hurting the election chances of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter were handing over data to a monitoring tool that law enforcement agencies were using to track protesters, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.The social media analysis tool, called Geofeedia, had been harvesting posts from the social media networks for surveillance purposes, and more than 500 law enforcement and public safety agencies have been using it, the ACLU said in a Tuesday report.Through a public records request, the ACLU found that Geofeedia had entered into agreements with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for their users' data.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter were handing over data to a monitoring tool that law enforcement agencies were using to track protesters, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.The social media analysis tool, called Geofeedia, had been harvesting posts from the social media networks for surveillance purposes, and more than 500 law enforcement and public safety agencies have been using it, the ACLU said in a Tuesday report.Through a public records request, the ACLU found that Geofeedia had entered into agreements with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for their users' data.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A second hacking group is also trying to rob banks by exploiting the SWIFT money transfer system, following a US$81 million heist in February that used a similar approach.The cyberattacks have been going on since January and have been targeting companies in the U.S., Hong Kong, Australia, and other countries, according to a Tuesday report from security firm Symantec.A "rough guess" is that about 100 organizations have been hit so far, based on the 74 individual computer infections detected, the security firm added.As part of their attacks, the hackers used malware to cover up records of fraudulent transactions made over SWIFT, preventing their victims from learning about the money theft.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A second hacking group is also trying to rob banks by exploiting the SWIFT money transfer system, following a US$81 million heist in February that used a similar approach.The cyberattacks have been going on since January and have been targeting companies in the U.S., Hong Kong, Australia, and other countries, according to a Tuesday report from security firm Symantec.A "rough guess" is that about 100 organizations have been hit so far, based on the 74 individual computer infections detected, the security firm added.As part of their attacks, the hackers used malware to cover up records of fraudulent transactions made over SWIFT, preventing their victims from learning about the money theft.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
U.S. accusations that WikiLeaks is helping Russian hackers influence the upcoming election hasn't stopped the controversial website from dumping emails allegedly stolen from a Hillary Clinton aide.On Monday, WikiLeaks released an additional batch of 2,000 emails stolen from Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, which could fuel negative press coverage of her candidacy.This came after the site dumped the first batch of emails last Friday, the same day U.S. intelligence agencies publicly blamed the Russian government for hacking the emails of U.S. officials and political groups earlier this year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
U.S. accusations that WikiLeaks is helping Russian hackers influence the upcoming election hasn't stopped the controversial website from dumping emails allegedly stolen from a Hillary Clinton aide.On Monday, WikiLeaks released an additional batch of 2,000 emails stolen from Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, which could fuel negative press coverage of her candidacy.This came after the site dumped the first batch of emails last Friday, the same day U.S. intelligence agencies publicly blamed the Russian government for hacking the emails of U.S. officials and political groups earlier this year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
It may sound paranoid, but the next time you enter a highly confidential meeting, leave your smart watch behind. It's possible the device could be spying on you.That's what ministers in the U.K. are reportedly being told. They've recently been banned from wearing Apple Watches during cabinet meetings on fears that the devices could be hacked by Russian cyberspies, according to The Telegraph.Mobile phones have already been prohibited from cabinet meetings, but the U.K. government has reportedly taken the extra step of also banning smart watches.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
It may sound paranoid, but the next time you enter a highly confidential meeting, leave your smart watch behind. It's possible the device could be spying on you.That's what ministers in the U.K. are reportedly being told. They've recently been banned from wearing Apple Watches during cabinet meetings on fears that the devices could be hacked by Russian cyberspies, according to The Telegraph.Mobile phones have already been prohibited from cabinet meetings, but the U.K. government has reportedly taken the extra step of also banning smart watches.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The U.S. response to election-related hacks that the Obama administration now blames on the Russian government could include sanctions against that country.
The administration has said that it has a range of options, including economic sanctions, to respond to Russian cyber attacks. On Friday, a Republican lawmaker said he would propose legislation to move those sanctions forward.
Senator Cory Gardner, who represents Colorado, said his planned legislation would mandate that the U.S. government investigate Russian cyber criminals and sanction them when appropriate.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The U.S. response to election-related hacks that the Obama administration now blames on the Russian government could include sanctions against that country.
The administration has said that it has a range of options, including economic sanctions, to respond to Russian cyber attacks. On Friday, a Republican lawmaker said he would propose legislation to move those sanctions forward.
Senator Cory Gardner, who represents Colorado, said his planned legislation would mandate that the U.S. government investigate Russian cyber criminals and sanction them when appropriate.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
U.S. officials are publicly blaming the Russian government for several high-profile hacks against political groups that they claim were meant to interfere with the upcoming election.U.S. intelligence agencies are confident Russia was responsible, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement on Friday.They allege that the Russian government compromised the emails of U.S. officials and institutions and then publicly leaked them online through sites such as WikiLeaks, DCLeaks, and the anonymous hacker Guccifer 2.0, who took credit for breaching the Democratic National Committee earlier this year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
U.S. officials are publicly blaming the Russian government for several high-profile hacks against political groups that they claim were meant to interfere with the upcoming election.U.S. intelligence agencies are confident Russia was responsible, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement on Friday.They allege that the Russian government compromised the emails of U.S. officials and institutions and then publicly leaked them online through sites such as WikiLeaks, DCLeaks, and the anonymous hacker Guccifer 2.0, who took credit for breaching the Democratic National Committee earlier this year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Michael Kan