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It's Official: Google Becomes ALPHABET

It's Official: Google Becomes ALPHABET

Oct 04, 2015
"Alphabet is about businesses prospering through strong leaders and independence. In general, our model is to have a strong CEO, who runs each business, with Sergey and me in service to them as needed." With this, founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin combined all Google products and services under one roof - ALPHABET . Revealed in their Google Investor's Blog , the newly formed Public Holding Company ALPHABET would be taking place at the closing of business on October 2, 2015. From now on Google would be the subsidiary of Alphabet and owning all of the outstanding capital stock of Google. Moreover, by implementing a holding company reorganization the " Alphabet Merger " will close today. Until now, the ticker symbol used by Google in the stock market was " GOOG " and " GOOGL " (on NASDAQ), which are kept same even after the merger. This makes Google Class C Capital Stock and shares of Google Class A Common Stock bei
Google to Disable Weak SSLv3 and RC4 Protocols to Boost Internet Security

Google to Disable Weak SSLv3 and RC4 Protocols to Boost Internet Security

Sep 19, 2015
It is finally time to say GoodBye to the old and insecure Web security protocols. Citing the long history of weaknesses in the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) 3.0 cryptographic protocol and the RC4 Cipher Suite, Google plans to disable support for both SSLv3 as well as RC4 stream cipher in its front-end servers. While announcing on its official blog , the Search Engine giant said the company is looking to put away SSLv3 and RC4 in all of its front-end servers, and eventually, in all its software including Chrome, Android, Web crawlers, and email servers. The move by Google came as no surprise, considering the fact that both RC4 and SSLv3 have been deemed unsecure by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). What are the Problems? SSLv3, which was made outdated 16 years ago, has a long history of security problems like BEAST , out of them the most recent one was POODLE ( Padding Oracle On Downgraded Legacy Encryption ) attacks, which lead to the recovery of plaintext communication
Navigating the Threat Landscape: Understanding Exposure Management, Pentesting, Red Teaming and RBVM

Navigating the Threat Landscape: Understanding Exposure Management, Pentesting, Red Teaming and RBVM

Apr 29, 2024Exposure Management / Attack Surface
It comes as no surprise that today's cyber threats are orders of magnitude more complex than those of the past. And the ever-evolving tactics that attackers use demand the adoption of better, more holistic and consolidated ways to meet this non-stop challenge. Security teams constantly look for ways to reduce risk while improving security posture, but many approaches offer piecemeal solutions – zeroing in on one particular element of the evolving threat landscape challenge – missing the forest for the trees.  In the last few years, Exposure Management has become known as a comprehensive way of reigning in the chaos, giving organizations a true fighting chance to reduce risk and improve posture. In this article I'll cover what Exposure Management is, how it stacks up against some alternative approaches and why building an Exposure Management program should be on  your 2024 to-do list. What is Exposure Management?  Exposure Management is the systematic identification, evaluation,
A New Company Called Alphabet Now Owns Google; Sundar Pichai Becomes New CEO

A New Company Called Alphabet Now Owns Google; Sundar Pichai Becomes New CEO

Aug 11, 2015
Well, this was a very unexpected move by Google. Google Co-Founder Larry Page announced a restructuring of the whole company, revealing the creation of the umbrella " Alphabet " corporation. But, don't worry… Google isn't dead! Rather, Google will become part of Alphabet. Why Google Rebrands As 'Alphabet' Over time, Google, the Mountain View company has become a lot more than just a Search Engine. Google created and acquired a large number of other popular Internet services, including Android, YouTube and Gmail, that makes too much difficult for a single company to manage all of them effectively. According to Google Founders, it's time, when different projects require different leaders, different company cultures, and different types of resources. " Our model is to have a strong CEO, who runs each business, with Sergey and me in service to them as needed ," Page wrote . So the founders decided to create an all new parental brand that
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This cheat sheet covers best practices with actionable items in Infrastructure security, code security, secrets management, access and authentication, and monitoring and response.
Mind Blowing Radar-based Gesture Recognition Technology for Everything

Mind Blowing Radar-based Gesture Recognition Technology for Everything

Jun 25, 2015
Since it introduced at the annual Google I/O conference, Project Soli has been trending on the Internet. Project Soli is one of Google's latest cutting-edge experiments that could actually transform the way humans interact with technology. Project Soli is not a wearable watch you might think it is. So what is Project Soli? It's you. Yes, you heard it right. Google's secretive Advanced Technology and Projects group (ATAP) who is working on Project Soli, knows that our hands and fingers are the best way we have to interact with smart devices, but the fact here is — everything is not a device. So Project Soli wants to make your hands and fingers the only user interface you will ever need to interact with technology, even without the need to touch anything to control it. Before knowing how Project Soli exactly makes this happen, let's have a look at this GIF, which was pulled from Google's Project Soli demo video by Airows: And Her
How Google Is Tracking Your Movie and Event Activities

How Google Is Tracking Your Movie and Event Activities

Jun 23, 2015
No doubt, You must be aware that Google tracks you, but what you probably did not realize is how precisely and till what extent it tracks you. Well, Google knows which movies I watched where, when, at what time and with how many of my friends , and knows it so well — even my eyebrows raised slightly in surprise! Yes, you heard right. If you are using your Gmail account like I do, receiving all movie booking and tickets, Google can easily track your movie flavors and frequent hangout places without access to GPS. GOOGLE READ MY EMAILS FOR EVENT INFORMATION I was feeling bored last night, so I decided to watch a movie and moved towards Google to search newly released films. As I googled " Movies 2015 "... Holy Crap! What I saw on the monitor was unbelievable. In Google search results, I was able to see the list of all my past movie booking event activities and even my future bookings ( shown below ), and it was so, so accurate. If you have Google acc
Google Moving Its Ad Services to Fully Encrypted Platform

Google Moving Its Ad Services to Fully Encrypted Platform

Apr 20, 2015
Encryption is one of the major steps to be taken by every big technology giant in order to protect its users over the Internet, and, among those, Google has set an admirable example by gradually moving all of its online services to use strong HTTPS encryption. So far, Google encrypted email by switching its Gmail service to HTTPS, Google encrypted data communicating between its servers, Google gives priority to encrypted websites in its search results, as well as Google search also uses HTTPS . Now: To help protect privacy and security of its users, the search engine giant is moving its advertising platforms to HTTPS , as well. Google has already moved its YouTube advertisements to HTTPS as of the end of last year, but Google has a widely spread ad network that serves ads to Hundreds of Millions of users across the Globe every day. However, the content of those ads are mainly controlled by the advertisers, and we cannot predict their intention. To better comba
Google $100 ChromeBit Turns Any TV Into a Computer

Google $100 ChromeBit Turns Any TV Into a Computer

Apr 01, 2015
Imagine — reaching into your pocket — and pulling out a computer ! Google has made it possible to put your whole computer into your pocket by introducing a whole new kind of Chrome device — a tiny stick that plugs into HDMI port of any display. Dubbed ChromeBit , a fully featured computer-on-a-stick from Asus that Google promises to retail for less than $100 when it comes out this summer. You just need to plug a Chromebit right into your TV or any monitor in order to turn it into a full-fledged Chrome OS -based computer. Google Chromebit is portable with an impressive look and will be available in three attractive colors — silver, blue and orange. It has a smarter clinch on the business end so that a user can easily plug it into practically any HDMI port without the need of any extension cable. SPECIFICATIONS This tiny little Google ChromeBit stick packaged with: Rockchip RK3288 (with quad-core Mali 760 graphics) 2GB of RAM 16GB of solid state storage memory
Google Chrome 64-bit Browser Finally Released As a Stable Version

Google Chrome 64-bit Browser Finally Released As a Stable Version

Aug 27, 2014
Along with the release of Chrome 37 for Windows, Mac, and Linux , Google today also released a long-awaited 64-bit stable version of its Chrome browser for Windows systems. The company has been working on the 64-bit support for Windows 7 and Windows 8 since June. Back in June, Google first released Chrome 64-bit only in the browser's Dev and Canary channels. Then in July, the beta channel received the same update, and now, finally Chrome 64-bit is available in the stable channel. The new 64-bit version of Chrome offers three main advantages: Speed Security Stability Therefore, for those of you on a compatible 64-bit system, this new version will offer faster performance as well as security and stability enhancements in comparison to 32-bit version. But, Chrome 64-bit is still an opt-in process. So, if you want to take advantage of it, you can hit the new "Windows 64-bit" download link over at google.com/chrome . SPEED ENHANCEMENT Google claims that certain
'Google Is Worse Than the NSA' — Rupert Murdoch

'Google Is Worse Than the NSA' — Rupert Murdoch

Aug 18, 2014
The United States National Intelligence Agency ( NSA ) or the largest Internet giant Google - According to you, which one is the worse? NSA? But, according to the popular Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch ( @rupertmurdoch ), Google is worse than the NSA. Murdoch, founder of global media holding company News Corporation - the world's second-largest media conglomerate, currently lives in Australia and is once more making the sort of news he'd prefer to be remembered for. The 83-year old tweeted on Sunday, in which he labeled Google worse than the National Security Agency (NSA). The missive was as follows: " NSA privacy invasion bad, but nothing compared to Google. " NSA privacy invasion bad, but nothing compared to Google. — Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) August 17, 2014 In past, Murdoch accused Google of stealing the content of his newspapers (yet never putting in place a robots.txt file that would prevent search engines crawling it) and has always criticis
Project Zero - A Team of Star-Hackers Hired by Google to Protect the Internet

Project Zero - A Team of Star-Hackers Hired by Google to Protect the Internet

Jul 15, 2014
Today Google has publicly revealed its new initiative called " Project Zero, " a team of Star Hackers and Bug Hunters with the sole mission to improve security and protect the Internet. A team of superheroes in sci-fi movies protect the world from Alien attack or bad actors, likewise  Project Zero is a dedicated team of top security researchers, who have been hired by Google to finding the most severe security flaws in software around the world and fixing them. PROTECT ZERO vs ZERO-DAY Project Zero gets its name from the term " zero-day ," and team will make sure that zero-day vulnerabilities don't let fall into the wrong hands of Criminals, State-sponsored hackers and Intelligence Agencies. " Yet in sophisticated attacks, we see the use of "zero-day" vulnerabilities to target, for example, human rights activists or to conduct industrial espionage. " Chris Evans said , who was leading Google's Chrome security team and now will lead Pro
Released Emails Show 'Google in a Relationship With NSA'

Released Emails Show 'Google in a Relationship With NSA'

May 06, 2014
Edward Snowden 's leaks last year questioned the integrity of several big and reputed companies such as Apple, Google and Microsoft that were found in relation with the NSA in its surveillance programs.  Thereafter they maintained distance with the Agency and claimed to be unaware of such government spying activities. Now, email exchanges between Google executives Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt and former NSA director Gen. Keith Alexander , obtained through the Freedom of Information Act that in real do not reveal anything ridiculously outrageous but suggest that the tech companies behind the services you use are very closely in relationship with the NSA and have worked with them over the years. The series of emails obtained by Al Jazeera clearly indicate that the relationship between Google and the National Security Agency (NSA) was far cozier than anyone thought. This revelation questions not only the reputation of the largest Internet giant, but also the privac
Google Gives Refund to Thousands of Buyers Who Bought Bogus Android AntiVirus App

Google Gives Refund to Thousands of Buyers Who Bought Bogus Android AntiVirus App

Apr 22, 2014
About a week back we reported about a popular paid Antivirus application on the Google Play Store which was actually a scam, dubbed as ' Virus Shield '. This First paid fake app managed to become one of the most popular anti-virus app in less than a week, and apparently more than 10,000 Smartphones users purchased it in $3.99 from Google Play Store and hence scammed more than $40,000. The Virus Shield Android App claimed to protect users' personal information from harmful viruses, malware and spyware, but in actual app doesn't scan anything and was removed from the store once the fraud had been uncovered. If you were one that had downloaded the Virus Shield Antivirus app , then don't worry, just check your email inbox, because Google cares about you and reaching out all those affected android users who purchased the app, in order to refund their money in full. REFUND WITH $5 BONUS CREDIT According to Android Police , Google has decided to refund $3.99 back to us
Google Admits that It Reads your Emails

Google Admits that It Reads your Emails

Apr 16, 2014
Google has updated its privacy terms and conditions on Monday to offer more transparency regarding its email-scanning practices. One of the world's biggest Web internet giant, Google, made it clear that the information its users submit and share with its systems is all analyzed. Last year, Google was accused of its illegal interception of all electronic communications sent to Gmail account holders and using the gathering data to sell and place advertisements in order to serve related ads to its users. Practically, the more information you let Google collect about you, the more accurate its adverts become. But Google has long insisted that its scanning practices are outlined in its terms of service. So, finally admitting the accusation, Google has made some changes in its terms of service res a new paragraph that explains the manner in which its software automatically scans and analyzes the content of Gmail messages when they are sent, received, and stored. " Our
Google announces $2.7 million Reward for hacking Chrome OS at Pwnium Contest

Google announces $2.7 million Reward for hacking Chrome OS at Pwnium Contest

Jan 27, 2014
Pwnium is the annual Hacking competition where Google invites coders from around the world to find security holes in Google Chrome. Google has announced its 4th Pwnium Hacking Contest hosted at the Canadian Security conference in March, offering more than $2.7 million in potential rewards for hacking Chrome OS-running ARM and Intel Chromebook. This year the security researchers have a choice in between an ARM-based Chromebook, the HP Chromebook 11 (WiFi) and the Acer C720 Chromebook (2GB WiFi) based on Intel's Haswell microarchitecture . The attack must be demonstrated against one of these devices running " then-current " stable version of Chrome OS. " Security is a core tenet of Chromium, which is why we hold regular competitions to learn from security researchers. Contests like Pwnium help us make Chromium even more secure ," Jorge Lucángeli Obes, Google Security Engineer said. Amongst the payouts are $110,000 for the browser or s
Qatar is Down ! Syrian Electronic Army hijacks major Qatar websites

Qatar is Down ! Syrian Electronic Army hijacks major Qatar websites

Oct 19, 2013
The Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) is at it again. The hacktivist group, who are known to back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad , has hacked many high profile Qatar based websites, including the Google, Facebook, Aljazeera and Government - Military websites. Starting at about 4:25 am (GMT 5:30+), the Syrian Electronic Army shared this message on Twitter: Qatar is #down and  following that, they went about switching off government and private websites using the .qa extension. The domains are managed by Qatar's Ministry of Information and Communication (ictQatar). Apparently, the Syrian Electronic Army gained access to  Qatar Domain Registrar ( portal.registry.qa ) and modifies the DNS entires to redirects the targeted websites to servers controlled by hackers serving defacement page, that include a picture of Assad and the groups logo, as shown. The List of the targeted websites is posted on Twitter by hackers - these include: moi . gov .qa facebook .qa gov .qa vodafone .qa a
Android Device Manager allows user to Lock, Wipe and Locate device remotely

Android Device Manager allows user to Lock, Wipe and Locate device remotely

Sep 24, 2013
If you lose your device, Google lets you secure it instantly from afar through Android Device Manager, that let you locate and remotely wipe your phones and tablets. The latest update to Android Device Manager enables remote password locking, overrides the built-in Pattern, PIN code, Face unlock or password-based security, making sure your data doesn't fall into wrong hands. To get started, go to google.com/android/devicemanager on your computer and go through your list of devices that are connected to your Google account. I tried the process with my Samsung Galaxy S4, and it worked like a charm. Google's new feature is a very useful one for those who don't have a lock on their phone and want to make sure their data is protected. A lock request will immediately secure any device connected to Wi-Fi or a cellular network, even if it's actively being used. If a thief has turned off a phone or enabled Airplane Mode, the lock will take effect as soon as a data co
STOP using Facebook and Google and if you fear US spying

STOP using Facebook and Google and if you fear US spying

Jul 03, 2013
Edward Snowden , a former NSA systems analyst, have revealed the NSA's sweeping data collection of U.S. phone records and some Internet traffic and the programs target foreigners and terrorist suspects mostly overseas. According to the Constitution of all countries, capturing and reading emails or text messages without privileges is illegal . Several Asian and European countries is worried about the US spying. Today a Germany's top security official has warned, " If you are worried about the US spying on you, you need to stop using Google and Facebook. " Internet users who fear their data is being intercepted by U.S. intelligence agencies such as the National Security Agency's should stay away from American websites run through American servers, Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said. " If these reports are true, it's disgusting. The United States would be better off monitoring its secret services rather than its allies. " Head of t
NSA's PRISM spy program, mining data from nine biggest Internet companies

NSA's PRISM spy program, mining data from nine biggest Internet companies

Jun 07, 2013
The National Security Agency , part of the U.S. military reportedly has a direct line into the systems of some of the world's biggest Web and tech companies, i.e Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Skype. The NSA access is part of a previously undisclosed program called PRISM , 6-year-old program which allows officials to collect real-time information and as well as stored material including search history, the content of emails, file transfers and live chats, according to reports in the Washington Post . Project PRISM may be the first of its kind and also  GCHQ , Britain's equivalent of the NSA, also has been secretly gathering intelligence from the same internet companies through an operation set up by the NSA. Later confirmed by the White House and members of Congress as saying that the government routinely seeks information in its fight to thwart domestic and international terrorism. Other services that are reportedly part of PRISM include PalTalk, Skype, and AOL.
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