One year after the European Union’s ruling to enact the controversial “right to be forgotten” policy, Google released some details on the petitions it received to remove specific URLs from its search engine. In its latest transparency report , the Internet giant states it evaluated nearly one million (925,586) URLs for removal, dating back to the launch of its official request process on May 29...

Updated at 9:00 AM PST. According to reports , hackers have gained access to a number of Starbucks mobile app accounts. The source of the compromise is reportedly due to account passwords being guessed or reused, giving attackers access to customer accounts through the application program interface (API). If an attacker gained access to a username and password, he or she is able to refill the...

Federal law enforcement have arrested five men for filing close to 1,000 fraudulent tax returns using the stolen information they obtained from a breach that compromised the data of 125,000 people, 88,000 of whom were listed in an Oregon employment company’s database. Lateef A. Animawun, 34, of Smyrna, Georgia; Oluwatobi R. Dehinbo, 30, of Marietta, Georgia; Oluwaseunara T. Osanyinbi 34, of...

It seems more and more companies are beginning to understand the benefits of running a bug bounty program, encouraging vulnerability researchers to report security flaws responsibly (for a reward) rather than publishing details on the web or selling a flaw to potentially malicious parties. The latest high profile firm found running a bug bounty is United Airlines. And rather than offering the...

One of the most fundamental aspects of any information security program requires IT security leaders to effectively communicate how cyber security risks can affect the operation of any business. It’s crucial to gain the support of executives and board members not only for investment purposes but also to successfully execute an enterprise-wide security strategy. By delivering a clear and consistent...

Updated at 8:30 AM PST. A security researcher has discovered a new vulnerability that he claims could allow a hacker to infiltrate potentially every machine on a datacenter’s network, leaving millions of virtual machines vulnerable to attack. According to CrowdStrike Senior Security Researcher Jason Geffner, ‘VENOM’ ( CVE-2015-3456 ), which is an acronym for “Virtual Environment Neglected...

Today’s VERT Threat Alert addresses 13 new Microsoft Security Bulletins. VERT is actively working on coverage for these bulletins in order to meet our 24-hour SLA and expects to ship ASPL-614 on Wednesday, May 13th. MS15-043 VBScript ASLR Bypass CVE-2015-1684 VBScript and JScript ASLR Bypass CVE-2015-1686 Internet Explorer ASLR Bypass CVE-2015-1685 Multiple Elevation of Privilege Vulnerabilities...

Many IT administrators struggle to protect their company’s server from malware, and one of the most common malicious software that can damage your IT setup is ransomware. Ransomware is hacking software that cybercriminals use to hold the IT system hostage. If the user of the IT system refrains from paying the ransom that is demanded by the cyber criminals, then your system controls will remain in...

Many of us have embraced the “shopping online is not safe” mentality, or at least held that mindset for a time but today, shopping locally has become (arguably) more dangerous than shopping online. When comparing current security issues, one might have a hard time choosing between risking shopping over a potentially unsafe server connection to that of a local retail store shopping experience. A...

The best things in life may be free but in software , that statement isn't so true. A free database based on the code of one of the most popular enterprise databases around sounds like a great deal, but it can quickly turn into a nightmare. With data breaches becoming ever more common, storing data in an unpatched database is like playing Russian Roulette. Surprisingly, that's exactly what anyone...

A security firm has observed that a new type of crypto ransomware whose theme is styled around the popular television series Breaking Bad is targeting Australian computers. In a post published on its Security Response blog, Symantec discusses how the ransomware incorporates several elements from Breaking Bad , which premiered in 2008 and aired its series finale in 2013. “The malware authors cooked...

Last week, we explored the story of Konstantin Simeonov Kavrakov , a Bulgarian who hacked Bill Gates’ bank account and stole thousands of dollars. We now report on the story of Valérie Gignac, a Canadian woman who is believed to have hacked users’ webcams and subsequently harassed them. According to a statement published by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), 27-year-old Gignac, who went by...

According to reports, Google Inc. is planning to release its next Android version with a feature users have been asking for years now – more granular controls to protect their privacy. In a Bloomberg article, sources stated the new feature would now give users the ability to select specific permissions over what data an app can access upon installation, including photos, contacts and location data...

Now more than ever, it’s evident cybersecurity risk oversight at the board level is essential to keep any business or organization afloat – and off the headlines. However, despite the abundance of data breaches and high-profile cyber attacks, C-level executives still lack understanding of these cyber risks, as well as confidence in their organization’s preparedness in the event of a breach...

What's happened? A widespread vulnerability has been found in WordPress, that impacts millions of websites running the popular blogging software and content management system. What's the vulnerability? It's a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability inside the popular JetPack plugin. and the default Twenty Fifteen theme installed on all WordPress sites. The problem lies in the genericons package...

The number of data breaches increased 27.5% in 2014 , making measures against these types of security incidents increase significantly among large companies. What about small businesses? Do they really stand a chance against hackers and security incidents? Being a small company might make you think no hacker will bother stealing your data. But, just because you’re small doesn’t mean your...

Recently, we compiled a list of the top 10 highest paying jobs in information security in an effort to help individuals navigate this exciting field as a career choice. That being said, we would be remiss if we stopped there. Information security is continuously evolving, so knowing which events offer the best opportunities for learning new ideas and making new connections is just as important as...

With acceptance that the prospect of unauthorised incursion, hacks and/or compromise of corporate, and personal systems is to now be expected, it would seem to make good sense to accommodate mechanisms with which the organisation may respond to such manifestation as and when they are encountered. It is this awareness which is driving many reputable organisations to seek robust and pragmatic...

Netflix announced on Monday the open source release of its very own system designed to analyze and categorize security events, and automatically respond to urgent incidents. The popular streaming service released its Fully Integrated Defense Operation, dubbed FIDO, after its implementation more than four years ago. “The idea for FIDO came from a simple proof of concept,” wrote Netflix’s Rob Fry...

A television service provider has blamed the Lizard Squad hacking group on a series of channel service interruptions that affected weekend programming, including the highly anticipated boxing match between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. According to Buckeye CableSystem , which services cable customers in northwest Ohio and parts of southeast Michigan, a command was issued at approximately 9...