two-factor authentication | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

We have heard a lot about data breaches nowadays. And if you think that switching to an encrypted messaging service may secure you and your data, then you may be wrong. No good deed today can help you protect yourself completely. Reuters and several media outlets are reporting that the phone numbers of 15 Million users in Iran and more than a dozen accounts on the Telegram instant messaging service have been compromised by Iranian hackers exploiting an SMS text message flaw. Telegram is a messaging app " with a focus on security " that promotes itself as an ultra secure instant messaging system as all data is end-to-end encrypted. The service claims to have 100 Million active subscribers. According to research conducted by two security researchers, Collin Anderson and Claudio Guarnieri, this attack has threatened the communications of activists, journalists and other people in Iran, where around 20 Million people use Telegram. The incident is even said to be the

In Brief: Sony is finally bolstering the security of the PlayStation Network by adding Two-Factor Authentication to the servers — almost five years after a massive hack that exposed data of over 77 Million users. Sony confirmed to Polygon today that it is planning to introduce two-factor verification to its PlayStation Network widely soon after a Twitter user saw a reference to it in the latest 4.80 firmware update for the PlayStation 3. Although there is no official announcement from the company revealing when two-step authentication will be implemented in PSN, the representative told sources that "more details will be shared at a later date." Microsoft has been providing two-step verification to its Xbox Live users since 2013. The feature is also used on Battle.net and Steam. Two-Factor authentication, also known as two-step verification, is a process that requires you to submit two different forms of verification when logging into a service: One is your

Over the past two years, a shocking  51% of organizations surveyed in a leading industry report have been compromised by a cyberattack.  Yes, over half.  And this, in a world where enterprises deploy  an average of 53 different security solutions  to safeguard their digital domain.  Alarming? Absolutely. A recent survey of CISOs and CIOs, commissioned by Pentera and conducted by Global Surveyz Research, offers a quantifiable glimpse into this evolving battlefield, revealing a stark contrast between the growing risks and the tightening budget constraints under which cybersecurity professionals operate. With this report, Pentera has once again taken a magnifying glass to the state of pentesting to release its annual report about today's pentesting practices. Engaging with 450 security executives from North America, LATAM, APAC, and EMEA—all in VP or C-level positions at organizations with over 1,000 employees—the report paints a current picture of modern security validation prac

Hijacking an online account is not a complicated procedure, not at least in 2016. Today, Instagram confirmed that the company is in the process to roll out two-factor authentication for its 400 Million users. It is impossible to make your online accounts hack-proof, but you can make them less vulnerable. Then what you can do to protect yourselves from hackers? Several companies provide more enhanced steps like Encrypted Channel Services, Security Questions, Strict Password Policy and so on. But, what would you do if a hacker had somehow managed to access your accounts' passwords? Since the online accounts do not have an intelligent agent inbuilt to verify whether the person is the legit driver of the account; beyond a username and password match. Hence the concept of Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) born out! Jumbos like Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon have already blended the 2FA feature with their services to tackle account hijacking. 2-F

There's a good news for app developers. On Wednesday at Twitter's first annual developer conference Flight, the company announced a new tool for developers which will allow users to log-in to mobile applications using their phone numbers rather than a traditional username and password combinations. SAY NO TO PASSWORD The service will be called Digits, aimed at application developers looking for an easier, password-free login option for their mobile applications  – in a similar way to Snapchat , WhatsApp and Viber that rely only on verified users' mobile numbers for sign-in, rather than the traditional ID and password combination. " This is an entirely new native mobile sign up service that makes mobile-first sign-up frictionless, and creates an identity relationship entirely between you and your users ," said Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, speaking at the Twitter Flight developer conference in San Francisco. DEVELOPERS DON'T TRUST TWITTER On one hand, where o

Gmail credentials leaked online? Oh my God! Again I have to change my password…!! Yes, you heard right. Millions of Gmail account credentials (email address and password) have been stolen and made publicly available through an online forum, causing a large number of users worldwide to change their Gmail password again. The website that published the email addresses with matching passwords is Russian. The credentials seem to be old and likely sourced from multiple data breaches. It is believed that the leaked passwords are not necessarily those used to access Gmail accounts, but seem to have been gathered from other websites where users used their Gmail addresses to register. 5 MILLION GMAIL CREDENTIALS LEAKED ONLINE The news broke when a user posted a link to the log-in credentials on Reddit frequented by hackers, professional and aspiring. But the archive file containing nearly 5 million Gmail addresses and plain text passwords was posted on Russian Bitcoin secur

Two Factor Authentication is becoming a standard in the enterprise security space in an attempt to dually secure end users against malicious attacks.  Following Dropbox, Google and virtually everyone else, LinkedIn added two-factor authentication to its login process today. LinkedIn will provide temporary codes for two-factor authentication  through SMS messages. The extra step is designed to lessen the chances of computer hackers breaking into user accounts. To turn on two-step verification on LinkedIn, hit the icon in the top-right corner of the site, click on "Privacy & Settings," and then on "Manage security settings" at the bottom. The site has provided instructions to its 225 million users on how to turn on the optional service. On other side, today @The_Pr0ph3t, whitehat Hacker from Spain reported a Cross Site Scripting Vulnerability in LinkedIn Developer site (developer.linkedin.com).  Flaw still exists on website at the time of writing, and hacker

Apple is beefing up the security of its iCloud and Apple ID accounts by adding two-factor authentication to the account login process. Users who activate the option will be required to enter a four-digit code they may receive via SMS message, aside from the usual password. Two-factor authentication is gaining popularity because it makes login to online services significantly more secure compared to regular process. Apple has rolled out this functionality for Apple ID and iCloud users. " Turning on two-step verification reduces the possibility of someone accessing or making unauthorized changes to your account information at My Apple ID or making purchases using your account ," Apple said . Apple will be using both the app and SMS versions, providing security codes through texts as well as the FindMyiPhone app. As long as users are able to remember their password, they will have the ability to generate a new recovery key from the My Apple ID website. You