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WikiLeaks Promises to Publish Leaks on US Election, Arms Trade and Google

WikiLeaks Promises to Publish Leaks on US Election, Arms Trade and Google

Oct 04, 2016
Wikileaks completed its 10 years today, and within this timespan, the whistleblower site has published over 10 million documents, and there's more to come. In the name of celebration of its 10th Anniversary, Wikileaks promises to leak documents pertaining to Google, United States presidential election and more over the next ten weeks. Speaking by video link to an anniversary news conference at the Volksbuhne Theater in Berlin on Tuesday morning, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange eagerly announced his plans to release a series of publications every week for the next 10 weeks. The upcoming leaks will include "significant material" related to Google, the US presidential election, military operations, arms trading and, the hot topic of past few years, mass surveillance. Assange also promised to publish all documents related to the US presidential race before the election day on November 8. "There is an enormous expectation in the United States," Assange said f
Google to Launch 'Andromeda OS' — An Android-Chrome OS Hybrid

Google to Launch 'Andromeda OS' — An Android-Chrome OS Hybrid

Sep 27, 2016
Google's long-rumored Android-Chrome hybrid operating system is expected to debut at the company's upcoming hardware event on October 4. The company has been working to merge the two OSes for roughly 3 years with a release planned for 2017, but an "early version" to show things off to the world in 2016. Android + Chrome = Andromeda The hybrid OS, currently nicknamed 'Andromeda,' could be come on a new Pixel laptop as well as Huawei Nexus tablet from Google by Q3 2017, if not sooner, according to new leaks from 9to5Google and Android Police . Andro id + Ch rome = Andromeda The laptop, officially codenamed " Bison " and nicknamed "Pixel 3," is a reference to the "Chromebook Pixel," but since this edition is not running Chrome operating system, one can not call it a "Chromebook" anymore. Andromeda is separate from the company's Fuchsia OS , which is focused on Internet-of-Thing (IoT) devices. Moreove
Timing is Everything: The Role of Just-in-Time Privileged Access in Security Evolution

Timing is Everything: The Role of Just-in-Time Privileged Access in Security Evolution

Apr 15, 2024Active Directory / Attack Surface
To minimize the risk of privilege misuse, a trend in the privileged access management (PAM) solution market involves implementing just-in-time (JIT) privileged access. This approach to  privileged identity management  aims to mitigate the risks associated with prolonged high-level access by granting privileges temporarily and only when necessary, rather than providing users with continuous high-level privileges. By adopting this strategy, organizations can enhance security, minimize the window of opportunity for potential attackers and ensure that users access privileged resources only when necessary.  What is JIT and why is it important?   JIT privileged access provisioning  involves granting privileged access to users on a temporary basis, aligning with the concept of least privilege. This principle provides users with only the minimum level of access required to perform their tasks, and only for the amount of time required to do so. One of the key advantages of JIT provisioning
Android Will Alert You When A New Device Logs-in Your Google Account

Android Will Alert You When A New Device Logs-in Your Google Account

Aug 02, 2016
Google has rolled out a new feature for Android users to keep its users account more secure: Native Android Push Notification when a new device accesses your Google account. Google has already been offering email notification for newly added devices, but since people usually ignore emails, the tech giant will now send a push notification to your device screen, giving you a chance to change your password immediately before an intruder gets in. Although it's a little change, the company believes people pay four times more attention on push notifications on their devices compared to email notification. The new feature " increases transparency to the user of what actions they've performed and allows them to flag any suspicious activity they may be seeing on the device, " the company says in its official blog post . So, from now on, when a new device is added to your Google account, or, in other words, when a new device accesses your account, you will receive a
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Microsoft Wins! Govt Can't Force Tech Companies to Hand Over Data Stored Overseas

Microsoft Wins! Govt Can't Force Tech Companies to Hand Over Data Stored Overseas

Jul 15, 2016
Especially after the Snowden revelations of global  mass surveillance by US intelligence agencies at home and abroad, various countries demanded tech companies including Google, Apple, and Microsoft to set-up and maintain their servers in respective countries in order to keep their citizen data within boundaries. The US government has powers to comply US-based tech companies with the court orders to hand over their customers' data stored on servers, even if the data centers are beyond US borders. Now, the recent court decision has proven that the data centers and servers located outside the US boundaries are safe haven. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled Thursday that the United States government cannot force tech companies to give the FBI or other federal authorities access to their non-US customers' data stored on servers located in other countries. US Government Can't go Beyond its Boundaries to Collect Data Yes, the Stored Communicatio
Check 'My Activity' Dashboard to know how much Google knows about you

Check 'My Activity' Dashboard to know how much Google knows about you

Jun 30, 2016
It's no secret that Google knows a lot about you. The company tracks almost everything you do on the Internet, including your searches, music you listen to, videos you watch, and even the places you travel to, and it does this for targeting relevant ads to its users and better improve its service. Now the technology giant has a plan to make it easier to control all the data the company collects throughout all your different devices. Google has rolled out a new My Activity page that shows a searchable history of pretty much everything you do online, including previously visited websites, voice searches, searched things and places, watched Netflix programs, and all activities you did on each of its products. "My Activity is a central place to view and manage activity like searches you've done, websites you've visited, and videos you've watched," Google says. "Your activity is listed as individual items, starting with the most recent. These items
Google CEO Sundar Pichai's Quora Account Hacked

Google CEO Sundar Pichai's Quora Account Hacked

Jun 27, 2016
Nobody is immune to being Hacked! After hacking Mark Zuckerberg's Twitter and Pinterest accounts, Hacking group OurMine has successfully hacked the Quora account Google CEO Sundar Pichai and then cross-posted to his Twitter account. The hack became apparent when OurMine posted messages on Quora through Pichai's account, which then appeared on his official Twitter feed late Sunday night — Thanks to the two accounts being linked. All the tweets in question have since been removed from Pichai's Twitter feed. Unlike Mark Zuckerberg, the three-man team Saudi hackers group did not use password exposed by 2012 LinkedIn data breach; rather they claimed to have discovered a vulnerability in Quora, which is a Q&A community launched in 2010. The group behind OurMine claims it is "testing security" of accounts and teaching people to secure their online accounts better. "We are just testing people security (sic), we never change their passwords, we did it
Google Wins Epic Java Copyright Case Against Oracle

Google Wins Epic Java Copyright Case Against Oracle

May 27, 2016
Google has finally won six-year long $9-billion legal battle with Oracle over the use of Java APIs in Android. Oracle filed its lawsuit against Google in 2010, claiming that the company illegally used 11,500 lines of Java code in its Android operating system, violating copyrights owned by Oracle. However, a federal jury of ten people concluded Thursday that Google's use of Java constituted "Fair Use" under US copyright law and delivered a verdict in favor of Google. The case was a big deal as the court decision could have the potential to change the way future apps are written for the Android operating system that is being used by almost 80% of the world's mobile devices. Also Read:   Google 'Android N' Will Not Use Oracle's Java APIs Oracle, who owns Java, had been seeking $9 Billion in damages for the use of application programming interfaces (APIs), which govern how code communicates with other bits of code. However, Google argued that
Google to Face a Record $3.4 Billion AntiTrust Fine in Europe

Google to Face a Record $3.4 Billion AntiTrust Fine in Europe

May 16, 2016
Google faces a record anti-trust penalty of about 3 BILLION Euros (US$3.4 Billion) from the European Commission in the coming days, according to reports. After 7-years of the investigation, the European Commission filed anti-trust charges against Google last year for violating antitrust laws. The European Union accused the search engine giant that it had abused its dominance in search by unfairly prioritize and displaying its own comparison shopping service at the top of its search results at the expense of rival products. British newspaper The Sunday Telegraph reports that the European Union is currently preparing a fine of about 3 Billion Euros ($3.4 billion), which is almost triple the amount (1.06 Billion Euro) that Intel was levied several year ago over violating antitrust law. According to the newspaper's sources, the EU officials, led by Margrethe Vestager , are planning to openly announce the fine against Google as early as next month, although the exact figure
Google makes it mandatory for Chrome Apps to tell Users what Data they collect

Google makes it mandatory for Chrome Apps to tell Users what Data they collect

Apr 19, 2016
In Brief Chrome apps and extensions make things easier, but they can also do terrible things like spy on web users and collect their personal data. But, now Google has updated its browser's User Data Policy requiring all Chrome extension and app developers to disclose what data they collect. Furthermore, developers are prohibited from collecting unnecessary browsing data and must also use encryption when handling sensitive information from users. Around 40 percent of all Google Chrome users have some kind of browser extensions, plugins or add-ons installed, but how safe are they? The company plans to enforce developers starting this summer, to "ensure transparent use of the data in a way that is consistent with the wishes and expectations of users." Google is making its Chrome Web Store safer for its users by forcing developers to disclose how they handle customers' data. Google's new User Data Policy will now force app developers, who use the Chrome We
Google has also been Ordered to Unlock 9 Android Phones

Google has also been Ordered to Unlock 9 Android Phones

Mar 30, 2016
The legal battle between Apple and the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) over a locked iPhone that belonged to one of the San Bernardino shooters may be over, but the Department of Justice (DoJ) are back in front of a judge with a similar request. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has discovered publicly available court documents that revealed the government has asked Google's assistance to help the Feds hack into at least nine locked Android smartphones citing the All Writs Act . Yes, Apple is not the only company facing government requests over privacy and security — Google is also in the list. The Google court documents released by the ACLU show that many federal agencies have been using the All Writs Act – the same ancient law the DoJ was invoking in the San Bernardino case to compel Apple to help the FBI in the terrorist investigation. Additionally, the ACLU also released 54 court cases in which the federal authorities asked Apple for assistance to help t
Russia Rejects Google's Appeal and Orders to Stop Pre-Installing its own Android Apps

Russia Rejects Google's Appeal and Orders to Stop Pre-Installing its own Android Apps

Mar 16, 2016
The Giant search engine Google has lost an anti-monopoly appeal in Russia against ruling related to its Android mobile OS The Moscow Arbitration Court on Monday ruled that Google had violated its dominant position with the help of its free open source mobile platform " Android " by forcing its own apps and services like Youtube, Google Map, and others, on users — reducing competition. The complaint was brought against Google last February by competing search engine Yandex — Russian Counterpart of Google — which had argued that Google broke competition rules by requiring handset manufacturers to pre-install its apps on Android phones and tablets. Yandex-1, Google-0 According to the survey conducted by Liveinternet data in September 2013, Yandex accounted 57.4% of the Russian search market, while Google shared 34.9%. This stats reflected in the share market, as their shares were 62.2 and 26 percent respectively. These statistical analyzes really worried
Apple vs. FBI — Google Joins Tim Cook in Encryption Backdoor Battle

Apple vs. FBI — Google Joins Tim Cook in Encryption Backdoor Battle

Feb 18, 2016
In the escalating battle between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Apple over iPhone encryption, former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden and Google chief executive Sundar Pichai just sided with Apple's refusal to unlock iPhone . Yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook refused to comply with a federal court order to help the FBI unlock an iPhone owned by one of the terrorists in the mass shootings in San Bernardino , California, in December. Here's What the FBI is Demanding: The federal officials have asked Apple to make a less secure version of its iOS that can be used by the officials to brute force the 4-6 digits passcode on the dead shooter's iPhone without getting the device's data self-destructed. Cook called the court order a "chilling" demand that "would undermine the very freedoms and liberty our government is meant to protect." He argued that to help the FBI unlock the iPhone would basically
It Works! Google's Quantum Computer is '100 Million Times Faster' than a PC

It Works! Google's Quantum Computer is '100 Million Times Faster' than a PC

Dec 09, 2015
Announcing the results of its experiment, Google says Quantum Computer is More than 100 Million times faster than a regular PC. Two years ago, Google and NASA ( National Aeronautics and Space Administration ) bought a D-Wave 2X quantum computer , which they have been experimenting at the U.S. space agency's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California for the past two years. The goal is to create a better way to solve highly complex problems in seconds rather than years. Also Read:  Fastest Operating System for Quantum Computing Developed By Researchers Now, a Google's Quantum AI team appears to have announced the results of its latest test on D-Wave 2X quantum computer, demonstrating that quantum annealing can outperform simulated annealing by over 108 times – that is 100,000,000 times faster . What is  Quantum Computers? Quantum computers can theoretically be so much faster because they take advantage of quantum mechanics. While traditiona
Google’s $85 Chromebit Lets You Turn Any Monitor or TV into a Computer

Google's $85 Chromebit Lets You Turn Any Monitor or TV into a Computer

Nov 18, 2015
Google and Asus are finally ready to release their new micro Chrome OS computer called the Chromebit — that retails at a great price, just $85. That is quite cheap for what is essentially a portable computer that you can take anywhere in your pocket. Also Read:   CHIP — The World's First $9 Computer . Announced back in March, the Chromebit is a fully featured Computer-on-a-Stick that plugs into TV or any screen and turns it into what Google calls a " full-fledged Chrome OS-based computer. " All you need to do is: Plug the Chromebit into any HDMI port Hook up the power cable, a Bluetooth keyboard and a mouse Your instant computer is ready It has a smarter clinch on the business end so that you can easily plug the Chromebit into practically any HDMI port without the need for any extension cable. Also Read:   Mouse Box — An Entire Computer inside a Mouse . Despite its low price of just $85, the Chromebit offers you a complete Chrome OS experience,
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
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
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
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