Safety Security & Privacy

Apple is beefing up security for resetting user passwords after a journalist wrote about a hack affecting his personal data, highlighting possible weaknesses in the system protecting more than 400 million user accounts. The company is temporarily suspending the ability to reset AppleID passwords over the phone while it takes steps to make the procedure Continue Reading →

In the space of one hour, my entire digital life was destroyed. First my Google account was taken over, then deleted. Next my Twitter account was compromised, and used as a platform to broadcast racist and homophobic messages. And worst of all, my AppleID account was broken into, and my hackers used it to remotely Continue Reading →

When a few hundred Dropbox users began receiving spam emails about online casinos and gambling sites two weeks ago, it seemed like something was up. And indeed there was.  Read the full story at CNET Continue Reading →

Mobile and network security company AuthenTec Inc announced this morning that it has been acquired by Apple for $8 a share, which equates to $356 million (in cash). News of the deal comes from a 8-K filed by AuthenTec, which says that it has entered an Intellectual Property and Technology Agreement with Apple yesterday, allowing Continue Reading →

A major spam botnet that inundated email inboxes around the world with emails promoting fake prescription drugs is gone. So says the security firm that helped kill it. “The Grum botnet has finally been knocked down. All the known command and control (CnC) servers are dead, leaving their zombies orphaned,” wrote Atif Mushtaq of FireEye Continue Reading →

Redmond’s console gaming network may not have suffered a breach of security comparable to last year’s PSN fumble, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t braced for impact. According to Xbox Live General Manager Alex Garden, Microsoft has made great strides in account security by taking legal action against sites who share phished usernames and passwords, Continue Reading →

Over the past day, Dropbox users have reported receiving spam in email accounts created exclusively for the service. The company has confirmed the reports and says it’s investigating. Are our Dropbox passwords safe? TechCrunch reports that users in the Dropbox forums pointed out the weird spam email about a day ago. The users, most of Continue Reading →

A Russian hacker appears to have defeated Apple’s in-app purchase security and processing checks, allowing iPhone and iPad owners to potentially rack up thousands of purchases within apps for no charge. 9to5mac reports that (via i-ekb.ru) that developer ‘ZonD80′ has developed a technique that uses an in-app proxy method to bypass the payment processing features Continue Reading →

Yahoo today confirmed that 450,000 unencrypted usernames and passwords were stolen Wednesday from one of its services, although it downplayed the threat. “We confirm that an older file from Yahoo! Contributor Network, previously Associated Content, containing approximately 450,000 Yahoo! and other company usernames and passwords was compromised yesterday, July 11,” Yahoo said in a statement Continue Reading →

The passwords to 432,000 email accounts were leaked earlier today. They were leaked from an older Yahoo file associated with the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Yahoo claims that only about 5 percent of the accounts had valid (current) passwords, but here’s how to check if your ancient account is one of them. Read the full story Continue Reading →