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

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...

For most of us Hacking is Technological in Nature. But, we usually forget the most important element of hacking that makes a successful hack from 10% to over 90%... ... The Human Element . And here the Social Engineering comes in. Social Engineering deals with non-technical kind of intrusion and manipulation that relies heavily on human interaction rather than technology. Social Engineering is popular because the human element is frequently the weakest part of a system and most prone to mistakes. Most businesses and organizations spend a ton of money on the latest shiny technology that promises to fix their security issues while humans are giving hackers the easiest way to get in. Impact of Social Engineering  Social Engineering has been the primary cause of a number of the most high profile cyber-attacks in recent years. The impact of it on an organisation could result in economic loss, loss of Privacy, temporary or permanent Closure, loss of good...

Hackers have come after your phone, your computer, and your car . Now hackers are coming after your home refrigerators, Smart TVs , and eventually KETTLES . Yes, your kettle turns out good for more than just heating up water or making coffee for you– they are potentially a good way for hackers to breach your wireless network. Also Read:   How to Weaponize your Cat to Hack Neighbours' Wi-Fi Passwords . Ken Munro, a security researcher at PenTest Partners, has managed to hack into an insecure iKettle , which was proclaimed " the world's first WiFi kettle " by its developers, and stolen a home's Wi-Fi password. Besides boiling water, the iKettle can connect to a user's home WiFi network. It also comes inbuilt with an Android and iOS app that allows the user to switch on the kettle and boil the water from other location. However, the biggest security flaw resides in the Android iKettle app that keeps the kettle's password as the defa...

It's inevitable. Most security threats eventually target privileged accounts. In every organization each user has different permissions, and some users hold the metaphorical keys to your IT kingdom. If the privileged accounts get compromised, it can lead to theft or sabotage. Because these accounts control delicate parts of your IT operations, and it is important to know who has privileges, what privileges they have, when they received access, and what activity they've done. This is where Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) software comes in handy. SIEM Monitors and Alerts on Privileged Account Activity Comprehensive monitoring of privileged accounts can be challenging because you need to monitor users who are administrators, users with root access, and users with access to firewalls, databases, services, automated processes, etc. With every additional user, group, and policy monitoring account activity gets increasingly difficult. On top of mo...