privacy and security - Page 11

According to a recent report, Google’s plan to block the web activity trackers called “cookies” has become a major source of concern for DOJ investigators who have been asking ad industry executives whether the move will impact smaller Google rivals.

A recent report reveals that a new text messaging attack that is almost invisible to victims can give hackers access to private accounts protected by two-factor authentication.

In a recent CNBC article, a former Facebook insider explains why Facebook is so worried about an upcoming privacy update to Apple’s mobile operating system for iPhones and iPads.

Hackers are reportedly racing to use a new form of ransomware to target Microsoft Exchange business email servers that have yet to be updated since the company revealed a number of massive security vulnerabilities.

E-commerce giant Amazon has reportedly expanded its palm scanning payment tech to more of its physical stores in the Seattle area. A University of Oxford professor pointed out a major disadvantaged of the technology, saying: “You can never change your palm like you change your password or other identification tokens.”

A group of hackers has reportedly breached a huge collection of security-camera data collected by Silicon Valley startup Verkada, gaining access to live streams of 150,000 surveillance cameras inside hospitals, police departments, prisons, schools, and companies including Tesla.

A cyberattack on Microsoft’s email software Exchange has turned into a global cybersecurity crisis as hackers rush to infect as many networks as possible before companies can secure their computer systems.

At least 30,000 U.S. governmental and commercial organizations have been hacked via a recently discovered Microsoft Exchange Server exploit. One source told the Wall Street Journal that the actual number of organizations impacted could reach 250,000. Cybersecurity experts believe the hackers had access to Microsoft customers’ systems for about two months before the tech giant patched the problem.

Google is planning to phase out the use of technology that tracks users as they move from website to website around the internet, in a move that it says is intended to better protect users’ privacy.

Tech giant Microsoft has warned customers that a new China state-sponsored hacking group is exploiting previously undisclosed security flaws in Microsoft’s Exchange Server email product. The hackers accessed the email systems of a wide range of organizations including defense contractors and infectious disease researchers.

Texas-based software company SolarWinds was the victim of a major hack recently that affected multiple government agencies and corporate clients. In a hearing before the House Oversight and Homeland Security Committees, the company’s former CEO blamed an intern that changed a company password to “solarwinds123.”

A federal judge has given final approval to a $650 million settlement for a class action lawsuit against Facebook which alleged that the Masters of the Universe stored biometric data in violation of Illinois state law. 

A recent report from Bloomberg states that game developer CD Projekt SA was forced to delay a promised update to its heavily-criticized blockbuster game Cyberpunk 2077, claiming that a recent ransomware attack resulted in hackers stealing the game’s source code and locking the company’s systems.

The Chinese-owned social media app TikTok has reportedly agreed to pay $92 million to settle dozens of lawsuits alleging that the app harvested personal data from users without consent and shared the data with third-parties, including some in China. Experts are calling it one of the largest privacy-related payouts in history.

The popular Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp will reportedly block users who refuse to accept its updated privacy terms and conditions from using the service.

E-commerce giant Amazon recently confirmed that it has equipped some delivery vans with AI-powered cameras, and it already uses an intrusive tracking app called Mentor to monitor workers delivering packages.

Microsoft President Brad Smith said on Sunday that a recent hack of the Texas-based IT firm SolarWinds was “the largest and most sophisticated attack the world has ever seen.”

A recent report alleges that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told staff that Facebook needs to “inflict pain” on Apple in the ongoing privacy dispute between the two Silicon Valley giants.

According to a recent report, the water treatment plant in Oldsmar, Florida that was recently targeted by hackers left their systems extremely vulnerable to infiltration. According to the Verge, the treatment plant shared a common password to access critical systems remotely.

Social media giant Facebook is being sued for “losing control” of the data of around one million users in England and Wales.

Florida residents had a lucky escape after water treatment plant operators prevented dangerous levels of lye from being added to the local water supply by a hacker that penetrated the computer systems of the City of Oldsmar’s water treatment facility.

Snap Inc., the parent company of the Snapchat social media platform, warned on Thursday that upcoming privacy changes by Apple could hurt its ad business despite user growth and revenue beating analysts’ fourth-quarter estimates.

The Harvard Business Review has called Facebook’s campaign against fellow tech giant Apple “misleading” in a recent article. Facebook has ratcheted up its war of words with Apple over new iPhone privacy settings that will impact Facebook’s advertising model. Mark Zuckerberg and his company claim to be the champions of small business against Apple.

A recent report states that a cybersecurity firm has found three new “critical” vulnerabilities in SolarWinds software after a vulnerability in the company’s systems led to a massive hack of U.S. government and corporate sites last year.

Social media giant Facebook is now reportedly attempting to preempt a new privacy update from Apple by asking users permission to track them ahead of the update’s rollout.

Music streaming service Spotify has reportedly filed a patent for new personality tracking technology that analyses a user’s emotional state and suggests music based on it. The patent, titled “Identification of taste attributes from an audio signal,” details constantly monitoring “speech content and background noise” to provide song suggestions.

A recent report from the Information claims that tech giant Facebook plans to take on rival Apple in an antitrust lawsuit related to its iOS 14 privacy features. A lawsuit would be a dramatic escalation to the war of words between the Masters of the Universe over user privacy.

Tech giant Apple has released a security update for iOS devices to patch multiple vulnerabilities, urging customers to download it immediately. According to Apple, vulnerabilities in its software “may have been actively exploited” by hackers.

An angry firestorm from both leftwing feminists and conservative constitutionalists is besieging President Joe Biden who, on Day One of his presidency, issued an executive order that removes any legal recognition of the two sexes and eradicates protections women have enjoyed in the federal government and other arenas such as bathroom privacy and sports.

Dating app Bumble has temporarily disabled a feature allowing users to filter potential matches based on their political leanings. The company cryptically announced it had disabled the feature to “prevent misuse” after social media posts indicated some users were changing their political leanings to try to locate other users who attended the Capitol Hill protest.

Telegram surpassed 500 million active users in January, according to a statement from Pavel Durov, the messaging app’s founder. Durov noted that 25 million people downloaded the platform in just 72 hours.

Recent reports claim that 70 terabytes of user data from social media network Parler have been leaked online. 

The hacker group behind the suspected Russian cyberattack of Texas-based IT company SolarWinds is now suspected of also gaining access to Microsoft’s internal systems.

Throughout 2020 the world saw multiple major hacks and breaches of schools, governments, and private companies as more systems moved online and the world adapted to the coronavirus pandemic — here are five of the most notable hacks and breaches of 2020.

A 12-year-old English girl plans to take legal action against the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, alleging that the app uses children’s data illegally.

Ticketmaster recently agreed to pay $10 million in criminal fines after they gained unlawful access to its competitor’s private data. In 2013, a former Ticketmaster executive reportedly encouraged an employee that had previously worked for a competitor to access the competitor’s internal computer data.