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Webmasters can track all your activities on the Internet – even if you have already cleared your browsing history and deleted all saved cookies. A researcher demonstrated two unpatched flaws that can be exploited to track Millions of Internet users, allowing malicious website owners: List Building: To compile a list of visited domains by users, even if they have cleared their browsing history Tracking Cookies: To tag users with a tracking cookie that will persist even after they have deleted all cookies These two Browser Fingerprinting techniques abuse HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) and Content Security Policy – new security features already built into Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, and expected to make their ways to other mainstream browsers in near future. WHAT IF, The Website owners turn these Security features against You? A security researcher has proved exactly the same last weekend at Toorcon security conference in San Diego. Yan Zhu...

A large number of third-party Android apps have reportedly been discovered grabbing copies of all text messages received or sent to infected devices and sending them to the attackers' server. More than 63,000 Android applications use Taomike SDK – one of the biggest mobile advertisement solutions in China – to help developers display ads in their mobile apps and generate revenue. However, around 18,000 of these Android apps contains a malicious code that spy on users text messages, according to researchers at Palo Alto Networks, who made the discovery . Taomike provides a Software Development Toolkit (SDK) and services to the Android app developers using which they can: Displaying advertisements to users Offer in-app purchases (IAPs) Android Apps Stealing SMS Messages Focussing on distributing the app and techniques for building revenue, "Not all apps that use the Taomike library steal SMS messages," security researchers said. The security...

Security researchers at Symantec have uncovered a new Backdoor Trojan that grants hackers remote access and some control over infected machines. " Duuzer ," as dubbed by the researchers, has been targeting organizations in South Korea and elsewhere in an attempt to steal valuable information. The Trojan is designed to infect both 32-bit and 64-bit computers running Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP. Duuzer gives attackers remote access to the compromised computer, allowing them to: Collect system and drive information Create, enumerate, and end processes Access, modify and delete files Upload and Download additional files Change the time attributes of files Execute malicious commands Steal data from infected system Know about victim's Operating System Duuzer Infects via Spear Phishing or Watering Hole Attacks It is currently unclear how the malware is being distributed, but according to Symantec Researchers, the most obvious routes ar...

Your Headache is not my Problem. If your computer gets hacked and infected with malware that holds your data for ransom, just pay off the criminals to see your valuable data again and do not expect the FBI to save them – it's what the FBI is advising concerning ransomware . Ransomware is a sophisticated malicious software that lets hacker encrypts all the contents of a victim's hard drive or/and server and demands ransom (typically in Bitcoins) for the decrypt key. Also Read:   Free Ransomware Decryption and Malware Removal ToolKit Federal agencies and the FBI have long urged people not to pay ransom to the criminals, as there is no guarantee that they will even receive an unlock key. The FBI – 'Better Pay up the Ransom' However, while speaking at the 2015 Cyber Security Summit on Wednesday, Assistant Special Agent Joseph Bonavolonta , who oversees the FBI's Boston office, advised the companies infected with ransomware to better pay up th...

The arrest is the first major outcome since TalkTalk – the biggest phone and broadband provider in the UK with more than 4 Million customers – had suffered a serious data breach. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the investigating officers from the Metropolitan police's cyber crime unit (MPCCU) have arrested a 15-year-old boy in connection with the latest cyber attack on TalkTalk . The press release issued by the police said the boy was detained in County Antrim at about 4.20pm on Monday on suspicion of committing offences under the Computer Misuse Act. The Computer Misuse Act 1990 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, according to which any computer misuse offences like: Unauthorised access to computer material. Unauthorised access with the intent to commit further offences. Unauthorised acts with the intent to impair, or with recklessness as to impairing, operation of the computers, and other electronic devices. ...Are consi...

PRIVACY  – a bit of an Internet buzzword nowadays. Why? Because the business model of the Internet has now become data collection. If you trust Google, Facebook or other Internet giants to be responsible managers of your data, the ongoing Edward Snowden revelations are making it all clear that this type of information can be easily snooped by the intelligence agencies like NSA and GCHQ. In short, the simple truth is that you have no or very little privacy when you are online. So, if you are worried about identity thieves, or your ISP spying on or throttling your traffic, the most efficient way to secure your privacy on the Internet is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service. Though you can take other measures to increase security on your end, like installing a firewall as well as blocking known intrusive IP addresses that might be spying on you — But VPN takes your security to the next level by encrypting all inbound and outbound data. VPN (Virtual ...

The German authorities have initiated a further investigation into espionage by the United States secret service NSA and British intelligence agency GCHQ after...   ...the head of the German Federal Chancellery unit had his private laptop infected. According to a recent report published by Der Spiegel , the laptop of the Chancellery division leader was infected with Regin – a highly advanced espionage malware program that has been linked to the National Security Agency (NSA) and its UK counterpart, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). As The Hacker News reported almost a year ago, Regin is one of the most highly advanced, sophisticated malware programs that was used to spy on a wide range of international targets including: Internet service providers (ISPs) Telecommunications backbone operators Energy firms Airlines Government entities Research institutes Other high-profile individuals …around the world since at least 2008. Regin h...

Car Hacking is a hot topic today. Today, many automobiles companies are offering vehicles that run on the mostly drive-by-wire system, which means that a majority of car's functions are electronically controlled, from instrument cluster to steering, brakes, and accelerator. No doubt these auto-control systems makes your driving experience better, but at the same time they also increase the risk of getting hacked. Previously researchers demonstrated how hackers can remotely hijack your car to control its steering, brakes and transmission. And Now… According to a team of security researchers, Hackers can successfully disable car's airbags – as well as other functions – by exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in third-party software that is commonly used by car mechanics. The team, including András Szijj and Levente Buttyán of CrySyS Lab, and Zsolt Szalay of Budapest University, demonstrated the hack on an Audi TT car sold by Volkswagen, and said any ...

Do you need a FitBit Tracker while jogging or running or even sleeping? Bad News! FitBit can be hacked that could allow hackers to infect any PC connected to it. What's more surprising? Hacking FitBit doesn't take more than just 10 Seconds . Axelle Aprville , a researcher at the security company Fortinet, demonstrated "How to hack a Fitbit in only 10 seconds," at the Hack.Lu conference in Luxembourg. Aprville's test was a proof of concept (POC) that did not actually focus on executing malicious payload, rather a logical attack. By using only Bluetooth, Aprville was able to modify data on steps and distance. However, she said it is possible to infect the device in an attempt to spread malware to synced devices. Fitbit Flex tracker is a flexible wristband that measures health statistics, such as blood pressure and heart rate. The Flex is a product of Fitbit, and its salient features are: It can wake you up with a silent vibrati...

TalkTalk , one of the biggest UK-based phone and Internet service provider with more than 4 Million customers, has been hacked again, the company announced late Thursday. TalkTalk is informing its 4 million customers that it has fallen victim to a "significant and sustained cyber attack" and it is possible that sensitive data including bank details have been stolen. In February, TalkTalk suffered a major data breach in which its customer details were stolen and misused by scammers to access additional information as well as steal considerable amount of money. What data might have been Exposed? According to the company, potentially all of its 4 Million customers could be affected by the data breach. However, TalkTalk hasn't specified exactly what kind of data was stolen from its servers, but says that the systems accessed by hackers contained information including: Credit card details and/or bank details Full names Postal addresses Dates ...

Joomla – one of the most popular open source Content Management System (CMS) software packages, has reportedly patched three critical vulnerabilities in its software. The flaws, exist in the Joomla version 3.2 to 3.4.4, include SQL injection vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to take admin privileges on most customer websites. The patch was an upgrade to Joomla version 3.4.5  and only contained security fixes. The vulnerability, discovered by Trustwave SpiderLabs researcher Asaf Orpani and Netanel Rubin of PerimeterX, could be exploited to attack a website with SQL injections. SQL injection ( SQLi ) is an injection attack wherein a bad actor can inject/insert malicious SQL commands/query (malicious payloads) through the input data from the client to the application. The vulnerability is one of the oldest, most powerful and most dangerous flaw that could affect any website or web application that uses an SQL-based database. The recent SQLi in J...

The connected devices, better known as the Internet of Things , have been attracting the significant interest of, not only users but also cyber criminals that are turning them into weapons for cyber war. Due to the insecure implementation of Internet-connected embedded devices, they are routinely being hacked and used in cyber attacks. We have seen Smart TVs and Refrigerator sending out millions of malicious spam emails ; we have also seen printers and set-top-boxes mining Bitcoins . And Now… Cyber crooks have targeted innocent looking CCTV cameras – common Internet-of-Things (IoT) device – to launch Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks . Also Read: 100,000 Refrigerators and other home appliances hacked to perform cyber attack. Yes, Surveillance cameras in shopping malls are being targeted to form a large botnet that can blow large websites off the Internet by launching crippling Distributed Denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. THE CAUSE The cro...

Breaking.... WikiLeaks, The Anti-secrecy and transparency organization, claims to have obtained the contents of CIA Director John Brennan 's personal AOL email account. Also, Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks , has promised to publish them soon on their website. Earlier this week, Brennan's personal email account was hacked by an anonymous self-described high school student, who swiped sensitive top-secret data from it. The teenager also posted a partial Spreadsheet filled with the supposed names, email addresses, phone numbers and Social Security numbers (SSNs) of 2,611 former and current government intelligence officials. Also Read:   High school Student Hacked Into CIA Director's Personal Email Account Anonymous Teenage Hacker is motivated by opposition to American foreign policy, particularly in respect to the Israel-Palestine conflict, according to an interview. The Central Intelligence Agency did not confirm whether the hack happened...

US Federal Official: Unlock that iPhone for me? Apple: Sorry, Nobody can do this! Neither we, nor you. Yes, in a similar manner, Apple told a U.S. federal judge that it is " IMPOSSIBLE " to access data stored on a locked iPhone running iOS 8 or later iOS operating system. In short, Apple has reminded everyone that the tech giant can not, and will not, break its users' encryption if the government official asks it to. Apple revealed this in a court filing late Monday in response to the U.S. federal magistrate judge, who is being requested by the Justice Department to force the company to help authorities extract data from a seized iPhone. However, Apple says that it has the " technical ability " to help federal enforcement unlock older iOS devices – and almost 10 percent of iOS devices are running older versions of the operating system. In the brief filed Monday, Apple said : "In most cases now and in the future, the government's requested order would...

Yes, Let's Encrypt is now one step closer to its goal of offering Free HTTPS certificates to everyone. Let's Encrypt  – the free, automated, and open certificate authority (CA) – has announced that its Free HTTPS certificates are Now Trusted and Supported by All Major Browsers . Let's Encrypt enables any website to protect its users with free SSL/TLS (Secure Socket Layer/Transport Layer Security) certificates that encrypt all the Internet traffic passed between a site and users. Not only free, but the initiative also makes HTTPS implementation easier for all website or online shopping site owner to ensure its users that their browser activities and transactions are safe from snoopers. Let's Encrypt issued its first free HTTPS certificate last month and was working with other major browsers to recognize its certificate as a trusted authority. Let's Encrypt achieved a New Milestone Let's Encrypt has received cross-signatures from SSL ...

October 1, 2015, was the end of the deadline for U.S. citizens to switch to Chip-enabled Credit Cards for making the transactions through swipe cards safer. Now, a group of French forensics researchers have inspected a real-world case in which criminals played smart in such a way that they did a seamless chip-switching trick with a slip of plastic that it was identical to a normal credit card. The researchers from the École Normale Supérieure University and the Science and Technology Institute CEA did a combined study of the subject, publishing a research paper [ PDF ] that gives details of a unique credit card fraud analyzed by them. What's the Case? Back in 2011 and 2012, police arrested five French citizens for stealing about 600,000 Euros (~ $680,000) as a result of the card fraud scheme, in spite of the Chip-and-PIN cards protections. How did the Chip-and-Pin Card Fraud Scheme Work? On investigating the case, the researchers discovered that the n...