Technology News

Gmail Releases New Confidential Mode

August 29, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Google has introduced a new Gmail feature called “Confidential Mode,” which seeks to make sending and receiving important or sensitive emails more secure. Unfortunately, it may have inadvertently created as many problems as it solves.

Here’s how the new feature works, and why you may be leery of using it:

To send a confidential email, compose your message as normal, and then, click the “lock” icon located at the bottom of the email screen. When this button is pressed, you’ll be presented with a number of options that will enable you to specify a self-destruct time ranging from one day to five years. The email will auto-delete after the amount of time specified.

You’ll also be able to specify whether the email requires a password to open, and of course, giving you the ability to set that password. Also, a message sent in Confidential mode cannot be forwarded to any other user or be printed out.

The new service works across all email systems because Confidential messages aren’t actually sent. The user will get a notification that they’ve received a confidential mail, and a link to click to access it, which points back to Google’s own servers where the email is housed.

Given this, the sender of the message also has the ability to selectively remove access to confidential emails if one was inadvertently sent to the wrong recipient.

All of that sounds great in theory, but there’s a problem. That’s exactly how phishing attacks work.

Security professionals have sounded the alarm that hackers will quickly begin spoofing Google’s new service, pointing the links in their messages toward their own servers. When users are prompted to provide their login credentials to see the message, they’ll be handing access to their email account over to the hackers. Google has not yet responded to or commented on this flaw in their new system. Use with caution.

Joseph Martin

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New Intel Vulnerability Named Foreshadow Found

August 27, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Intel has had a tough time of things so far this year. The most recent trouble stems from yet another newly discovered security flaw in the company’s processors, bearing the inelegant name of “L1 Terminal Fault,” or “Foreshadow” by those who have discovered it.

The attack can take one of three different shapes (so far), and ultimately allows a hacker to access sensitive data stored in the computer’s memory or on third-party cloud-based storage services. This sensitive data includes passwords, pictures, other sorts of data files, and encryption keys.

The three variants of the attack have been grouped into two distinct categories, known as Foreshadow and Foreshadow NG (Next Gen).

The standard Foreshadow variant (Reference CVE-2018-3615) targets Intel’s Software Guard Extensions (SGX), which is new technology designed by intel to help keep user data from falling into the wrong hands, even if the whole system comes under attack.

As the researchers who discovered it describe it:

“Foreshadow enables an attacker to extract SGX sealing keys, previously sealed data can be modified and re-sealed. With the extracted sealing key, an attacker can trivially calculate a valid Message Authentication Code (MAC), thus depriving the data owner from the ability to detect the modification.”

The Foreshadow: Next Generation attack (reference CVE-2018-3620 and CVE-2018-3646) targets virtualization environments like those used by large cloud-based service providers like Microsoft and Amazon.

From the researchers again:

“Using Foreshadow-NG, a malicious program running on the computer might be able to read some parts of the kernel’s data. As the kernel has access to data stored by other programs, a malicious program might be able to exploit Foreshadow-NG to access data belonging to other programs.

Foreshadow is different from Meltdown as it targets virtual machines and SGX, in addition to data stored in the operating system’s kernel (which was targeted by Meltdown).”

According to Intel, none of these attacks have been seen in the wild, but of course, that’s just a matter of time now. No word from Intel yet on a time frame to address these issues, but stay tuned.

Joseph Martin

Fax Machines Might Be Gateway To Next Hacker Attack

August 24, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Nothing bad could possibly happen to your company’s network if the only piece of information the hackers have is your fax number, right?

Unfortunately not, according to recent research by employees at Check Point.

They recently revealed details about not one, but two different REC’s (Remote Code Execution) techniques that exploit flaws in the communications protocols of tens of millions of fax machines spread all over the globe.

If you think the Fax machine has largely gone the way of the dinosaur, think again. Many printers sport “all in one” functionality, which includes both scan and fax functionality, and therein lies the problem. Since these printers are invariably attached to your network, your fax number is a good a way in, since most people don’t even think about it.

Called the “Faxploit,” the new attack type involves a pair of known buffer overflow vulnerabilities, CVE-2018-5925 and CVE-2018-5924, which allows anyone who takes advantage of them to have the ability to execute code remotely.

The researchers who discovered the issue created a proof of concept video demonstrating the attack in action. In their demo, they made use of an HP Officejet Pro 6830 and an OfficeJet Pro 8720, sending an image file with a malicious payload through the phone line. The moment the fax machine receives it, the image is decoded and uploaded into the fax/printer’s memory.

From there, the sky is the limit. Having gained a foothold on the network, what happens next is entirely dependent on the nature of the payload delivered. One thing you can be sure of, however, is that none of the outcomes you can expect will be good.

The researchers point out that there’s nothing special about the two all in one printers they selected, and the vulnerability will work on just about any make or model. Something new to be worried about.

Joseph Martin

Social Media App Filters Could Alter Beauty Perception

August 21, 2018 by Joseph Martin

File this one away under “unintended consequences.” There’s a newly emerging trend in the medical community called “Snapchat Dysmorphia” that’s leaving plastic surgeons around the country to sound the alarm, and in some cases, scratch their heads in disbelief.

Recent research conducted at Boston University has discovered that the digital filters featured prominently in social media services like Snapchat are influencing how Millennials think about beauty. It’s causing significant numbers of them to investigate the possibility of getting plastic surgery in order to look more like the filtered pictures of themselves.

The newly minted term, ‘Snapchat Dysmorphia’ is a variant of body dysmorphia, which is a mental health condition that causes people to be stressed and obsessed with the way they look. Previously, one of the leading causes of body dysmorphia has been the unrealistic standards of beauty portrayed in magazines and on televisions. These media portrayals include supermodels with perfect bodies setting a standard of perfection that few can ever hope to achieve.

The more recent trend, however, is an increasing percentage of young people wishing to look more like their filtered-image selves, with, as the report highlights, “fuller lips, bigger eyes, or a thinner nose.”

The researchers went onto say, “This is an alarming trend because those filtered selfies often present an unattainable look and are blurring the line of reality and fantasy for these patients…overall, social media apps, such as Snapchat and Facetune, are providing a new reality of beauty for today’s society. These apps allow one to alter his or her appearance in an instant and conform to an unrealistic and often unattainable standard of beauty.”

If you have a child who spends a significant amount of time on social media, then it’s something to keep a close eye on. Based on the data, this trend is only going to get stronger over time.

Joseph Martin

Survey Shows People Are Most Concerned About Data Theft

August 21, 2018 by Joseph Martin

How seriously does the average consumer take data theft? It’s an interesting (and fair) question, and one that Radware recently attempted to answer when the company sent out surveys. They contacted more than three thousand people to conduct its recent survey titled “Consumer Sentiments: Cybersecurity, Personal Data and the Impact on Customer Loyalty.”

As it turns out, today’s consumers take the matter even more seriously than many other types of crimes.

Here are some of the highlights from the recent report:

A full 55 percent of those surveyed said that data theft was their top concern

The theft of a personal wallet ranked a distant, with just 23 percent of respondents placing it as their top concern

10 percent of respondents listed auto theft as their primary concern

Just 6 percent listed the theft of their cell phone and house keys as their #1 concern

Anna Convery-Pelletier, Radware’s Chief Marketing Officer, had this to say about the report:

“It’s no surprise that data theft ranks so high in the minds of Americans as a major risk. It’s easy to buy a new car or a new cell phone, but having private data exposed can have permanent consequences for both the consumer and the brand where the breach occurred. When an organization does not properly secure its network, it is putting its brand reputation in jeopardy and risking its customer base.”

While that’s true, some of the results are curious. After all, the theft of a cell phone ranks quite low in terms of top concerns, but cellphones contain a treasure trove of personal data, which points to an odd disconnect in the survey results.

Additionally, while 54 percent of survey respondents said that having their social security number stolen was a major concern, only 18 percent said they were worried about having their banking information stolen, and only 9 percent listed the theft of healthcare information as a big issue.

In the end then, the survey raises at least as many questions as it answers, but it does shine a much needed light on a fascinating topic. Clearly, more study and education is needed.

Joseph Martin

PGA Golf Organization Gets Hit By Ransomware

August 20, 2018 by Joseph Martin

These days, we expect giant corporations, government agencies and medical facilities to be the targets of hackers. However, golf is something new.

According to a recent report from GolfWeek, the PGA’s offices have been hacked and infected with what appears to be the “BitPaymer” ransomware. That’s the same strain that recently hit the town of Matanuska-Susitna, in Alaska, forcing city officials to resort to the use of typewriters for a week until they got their system back.

The interesting thing about this is the fact that BitPaymer isn’t a new ransomware strain. It’s actually been in the wild for quite some time. Until very recently, it’s kept a low profile and hasn’t been widely used.

That appears to be changing. While the recent spike in BitPaymer infections can’t be called a serious trend on the web as a whole, it is true that the ransomware is suddenly getting a surge of attention from hackers.

One of its hallmarks is the fact that the people using it tend to demand much higher ransom amounts than average to decrypt files locked by the malicious software. Unfortunately for those affected by it, BitPaymer is quite secure, so victims have no choice but to pay up or restore their files from their most recent backup.

This represents a disturbing event on two fronts. First, it seems that no target is safe from hacking, not even something as innocuous as golf. Second, if the current trend continues, (and there’s no reason to think that it won’t), we’re going to be hearing more about BitPaymer attacks in the weeks and months ahead.

As ever, vigilance is the best defense. Make sure your IT staff is aware of this latest threat to system security. It may be time for another round of email education for all employees, to stress the importance of not opening messages from unknown parties and being wary of downloading files or clicking links unless the sender’s identity can be confirmed.

Joseph Martin

Android Gets New OS Update Named Android Pie

August 17, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Android 9 is finally here, at least for some users. As of today, if you have any of the following phones, you can get the latest update:

The Google Pixel

The Pixel XL

The Pixel 2

The Pixel 2 XL

The Essential Phone

The company is currently working with other vendors to make the new update available. So if you’ve got an Android device other than those listed above, you should have access to the new version later this fall.

As to features, there’s a lot to like. Google borrowed from Apple’s playbook in at least one way by changing its navigation. It replaced its three-button navigation bar with a new gesture-based system that allows you to switch from one app to another by using natural gestures, which is a nice addition.

Additionally, the new OS makes excellent and much heavier use of machine learning and AI than any of its predecessors. Among other things, these changes subtly impact your phone’s brightness and battery power prioritization, which extends the time between recharges.

The phone learns how you use it and adapts accordingly. It also adapts to environmental conditions, adjusting display brightness as those conditions change.

Another new feature called ‘Slices’ brings relevant segments of certain apps forward, as needed. For example, if you’re searching for a ride, your phone will bring real-time pricing and driver ETAs from services like Lyft and Uber to the foreground.

There’s also a new suite of features under the general heading of “Digital Wellbeing,” which includes a “Do Not Disturb” mode that blocks notifications and sounds, and also grays out the screen to help eliminate unwanted intrusions.

The Digital Wellbeing dashboard also tracks and displays how much time you’re spending on each of the apps on your phone and allows you to set App Timers which will help you better manage the time you’re spending.

On balance, we love the robust new feature set, and we think you will too! If you have one of the devices mentioned above, you can download the update now by going to “Settings – System – System Update”, and then tapping “download and install.”

Joseph Martin

Microsoft Is Keeping Classic Skype, For Now

August 16, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Microsoft recently found itself on the receiving end of more than a little user rage when they made significant changes to Skype, with the release of version 8. The company’s original plan was to model Skype 8 after several different social media services, but the users found the new interface to be both annoying and frustrating.

On the face of it, Skype 8 boasts a number of impressive enhancements, enabling users to screenshare inside calls, connecting with up to 24 users simultaneously and sharing up to 300MB of files via the Skype application itself. Plus, it offers free HD video.

Unfortunately, users weren’t pleased with the fact that the redesign relied on a single window. This makes it impossible to multitask with separate conversations occurring in different windows. Some of the new features lacked professional polish (like emoji’s and @mentions). These features would be fine for a consumer grade app, but the desktop version of Skype is something that businesses rely on heavily, and those features are of little value there.

It caused such an uproar in the Skype user community that the company abandoned their plans to end support for Skype 7 on September first, and re-branded it as “Skype Classic,” leaving it in place for the time being. Ultimately, the feeling is that “Skype Classic” will be killed off at some point, but for now, Microsoft has chosen to listen to their user base and continue offering support for it.

The future, however, is uncertain. While the temporary stay is useful, it is not yet known how long that will hold. The company might intend to go back to the drawing board where Skype 8 is concerned and re-think some of their design decisions to make the new version more palatable to Enterprise users. Time will tell.

Joseph Martin

Reddit Users Advised To Reset Their Passwords

August 14, 2018 by Joseph Martin

If you’re a Reddit user, it’s time to change your password. According to the company, they recently discovered evidence of a hack that exposed all company data from the site’s launch (2005) to 2007, including user emails and account credentials.

The company also reported that all public messages from that time period were downloaded, as well as an unknown number of private conversations.

In addition to that, the hacker was apparently able to access the logs containing the email digests that Reddit sent out between June 3rd and June 17th of 2018. Note that you were only impacted by this portion of the hack if you received an email from [email protected] between the dates mentioned.

Reddit is following what has quickly become standard procedure in the wake of an event like this. They reported the incident and are currently working with law enforcement to investigate the matter. Additionally, the company has bolstered its security, including making two-factor authentication a requirement to access all sensitive internal systems.

One slight departure from the standard response is this: Rather than notifying only the users whose email addresses and account credentials were compromised, Reddit is urging all users to change their passwords immediately and to enable two-factor authentication if you have not already done so.

It’s sound advice, but unfortunately, advice that only a minority of Reddit users will likely heed.

This is hardly the first high profile data breach in 2018, and it certainly won’t be the last. Each new breach reported on only sounds the alarm more loudly. Corporate systems are woefully insecure, and the hackers are finding more and more success. 2018 is on track to break the record set in 2017 for the most breaches in the history of the internet, and next year will probably break the record set later this year.

As ever, vigilance is the key.

Joseph Martin

New Tools Help You Limit Your Social Media Time

August 12, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Facebook and Instagram are rolling out new tools designed to help manage how much time you’re spending on those two social media platforms.

On Facebook, the new feature is called “your time on Facebook,” and on Instagram, it’s called “Your Activity,” but both features do essentially the same thing.

They monitor and report on how much time you’re spending on the platform and can be fine-tuned by users to temporarily mute your push notifications.

The changes are being rolled out in an effort to address concerns that a number of groups are now raising. The concerns are about the addictive feedback loops built into social media apps. These feedback loops have been demonstrated to have a negative effect on the well being of users who get sucked in too deeply.

The new features will be rolled out to 99 percent of the users on each platform. The company is withholding the new features from 1 percent to allow for comparative testing.

Once they become available, the new features can be found under the “Hamburger Menu,” which is the nickname for the three vertical lines at the top right-hand corner of the Facebook app. On Instagram, the new feature can be found under the settings menu, accessible by tapping the gear icon on your Instagram profile.

It remains to be seen whether these new features will have the desired effect. Since they have to be manually activated, odds are that the impact will be minimal. For a certain subset of users who seem not to be able to control their social media addiction on their own, it might provide just enough of a boost to make a difference.

Even if that proves not to be the case, it’s clear that the company takes the matter seriously, so we can expect to see more from them on this front in the months ahead.

Joseph Martin

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Gmail Releases New Confidential Mode

New Intel Vulnerability Named Foreshadow Found

Fax Machines Might Be Gateway To Next Hacker Attack

Survey Shows People Are Most Concerned About Data Theft

PGA Golf Organization Gets Hit By Ransomware

Android Gets New OS Update Named Android Pie

Reddit Users Advised To Reset Their Passwords

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