The Hacker News | #1 Trusted Source for Cybersecurity News — Index Page

If you rely on messaging apps to remain in contact with your family members and friends, then you may have to switch back to old-fashioned text messaging service in matter of weeks due to a new law currently going through Parliament. WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger to Ban in UK The popular messaging applications, including WhatsApp, Snapchat, iMessage and Facebook Messenger, could all potentially be banned in the UK under the controversial ' Snoopers Charter '. The Investigatory Powers Bill -- the so-called Snoopers Charter -- mentioned in the 2015 Queen's Speech , would allow UK government to eradicate instant messaging apps that refuse to switch off end-to-end encryption from their services. Earlier this year in light of the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris, Prime Minister David Cameron hinted at the crackdown when he claimed that he would ban encrypted messaging apps like Snapchat, WhatsApp and Messenger unless they didn't comply with new surve...

Brains are more powerful than computers. So why not build a computer from Brain?  In fact, Multiple Brains as per sayings, " Two heads are better than one. " Scientists at Duke University have done exactly that. They have successfully developed the first instance of a Brain-machine interface that employs multiple brains at once to operate a single machine. "Organic Computers" – Made from Brains of Rats and Monkeys Scientists were able to interconnect the brains of four rats to create a " Brainet " that is capable of accomplishing computational tasks better than the tasks performed by any one of the rats. In the recent paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, the neurobiologist leading the research, Miguel Nicolelis says: " Recently, we proposed that 'Brainets,' i.e. networks formed by multiple animal brains, cooperating and exchanging information in real time through direct brain-to-brain interfaces, could ...

The mysterious security vulnerability in the widely used OpenSSL code library is neither HeartBleed nor FREAK, but it's critical enough to be patched by sysadmins without any delay. OpenSSL Foundation released the promised patch against a high severity vulnerability in OpenSSL versions 1.0.1n and 1.0.2b, resolving a certificate forgery issue in the implementations of the crypto protocol. The critical vulnerability could allow man-in-the-middle attackers to impersonate cryptographically protected websites, virtual private networks, or e-mail servers, and snoop on encrypted Internet traffic. The vulnerability, ( CVE-2015-1793 ), is due to a problem lies in the certificate verification process. An error in its implementation skipped some security checks on new, untrusted certificates. By exploiting this vulnerability, an attacker could circumvent certificate warnings that enable them to force applications into treating an invalid certificate as a legitimate Certificat...

The corporate data leaked in the recent cyber attack on the infamous surveillance software firm Hacking Team has revealed that the Adobe Flash zero-day (CVE-2015-5119) exploit has already been added to several exploit kits. Security researchers at Trend Micro have discovered evidences of the Adobe Flash zero-day (CVE-2015-5119) exploit being used in a number of exploit kits before the vulnerability was publicly revealed in this week's data breach on the spyware company. The successful exploitation of the zero-day Flash vulnerability could cause a system crash, potentially allowing an attacker to take full control of the affected system. Adobe Flash Zero-Day Targeted Japan and Korea According to the researchers, the zero-day exploit, about which the rest of the world got access on Monday, was apparently used in limited cyber attacks on South Korea and Japan . "In late June, [Trend Micro] learned that a user in Korea was the attempted target of various ...

The BBC has unveiled the final design of the Micro:bit — a pocket-sized computer board designed to lure U.K. school children to embedded electronics. The Micro:bit is essentially a codeable computer that lets kids get creative with technology. It measures 5cm by 4cm and will be available in different colors. The idea behind the Micro:bit is to encourage young children to learn how computers work, and to get kids into programming and engineering at the young age. What does this tiny little computer contain? The Micro:bit, made in collaboration with ARM, Barclays, element14, Freescale, Lancaster University, Microsoft, Nordic Semiconductor, Samsung and the Wellcome Trust, contains: A 32-bit ARM Cortex M0 CPU Programmable Array of 25 red LEDs Micro USB port through which it can be powered Three input-output (I/O) Ring Connectors to hook it up to other kits and sensors Bluetooth for connectivity A 3V output connector to power external devices A 20-pin edge...

An alleged member of Lizard Squad, who claimed responsibility for knocking Sony's PlayStation Network and Microsoft's Xbox Live offline late last year has been convicted of 50,700 counts of cyber crime. The infamous computer hacker gang Lizard Squad launched massive Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks against the largest online gaming networks -- PlayStation Network and Xbox Live -- on Dec. 25, 2014. Then offered to sell its own Lizard-branded DDoS-for-hire tool called Lizard Stresser. Julius "zeekill" Kivimaki , a 17-year-old was given a two-year suspended prison sentence and was "ordered to fight against cybercrime," according to Finnish newspaper Kaleva . Facing more than 50,000 Counts of Computer Crime Finnish authorities arrested Kivimaki in late 2014. Under the alias " Ryan ," the teen participated in an interview with U.K. television station Sky News, openly claiming that he is a member of Lizard Squad a...