Security

Zoom's proposed $14.7 billion deal to acquire Five9 is now under investigation by a government committee for potential national security risks. In a letter sent to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last month, the Department of Justice (DOJ) requested for FCC's review of the Zoom-Five9 deal to be halted until a telecommunications security committee could assess for potential national security risks. The FCC is responsible for reviewing whether deals such as the one made between Zoom and Five9 can be approved. Meanwhile, the telecommunications security committee is responsible for providing the FCC with reviews of potential foreign threats in the telecommunications sector. The committee was established last year by former US President Donald Trump. "USDOJ believes that such risk may be raised by the foreign participation (including the foreign relationships and ownership) associated with the application, and a review by the committee is necessary to assess and make … [Read more...] about Zoom’s $14.7 billion deal for Five9 under US national security review

Facebook has said it has been working on ensuring safety and security of users and has invested more than USD 13 billion in teams and technology in this area since 2016. The social media giant noted that its "advanced AI" has helped block 3 billion fake accounts in the first half of this year. The comments come after reports stated that the US-based company had failed to fix the platform's flaws despite being flagged on numerous occasions. "We firmly believe that ongoing research and candid conversations about our impact are some of the most effective ways to identify emerging issues and get ahead of them. "This doesn't mean we find and fix every problem right away. But because of this approach, together with other changes, we have made significant progress across a number of important areas, including privacy, safety and security, to name a few," Facebook said in a blogpost on Tuesday. Facebook admitted that in the past, it didn't address safety and security … [Read more...] about Facebook claims it has invested over $13 billion in user security since 2016

The Google Chrome security team has shared that it has no qualms about imposing a slight performance penalty on future versions the web browser if this helps make it more secure. Quoting earlier research that revealed that 70% of all security issues in Chrome concern memory safety bugs, the developers listed the various approaches it could take to improve the security of the browser. In a joint post , the members of the Chrome security team called application security a “cat and mouse game”, before discussing the available approaches and arguing that any practical solution would come with a slight performance hit. TechRadar needs you! We're looking at how our readers use VPNs with streaming sites like Netflix so we can improve our content and offer better advice. This survey won't take more than 60 seconds of your time, and we'd hugely appreciate if you'd share your experiences with us. >> Click here to start the survey in a new window << … [Read more...] about The next Google Chrome update will sacrifice performance in the name of security

Facebook says it’s spent over $13 billion on “safety and security” since 2016 and has 40,000 people dedicated to the area, offering a glimpse at its operations after a week of leaks published by The Wall Street Journal . The company used the numbers as an example of how it’s addressed problems on Facebook and Instagram, saying the Journal ’s stories lacked “important context” about complex issues. “In the past, we didn’t address safety and security challenges early enough in the product development process,” Facebook said in a blog post today. “But we have fundamentally changed that approach. Today, we embed teams focusing specifically on safety and security issues directly into product development teams, allowing us to address these issues during our product development process, not after it.” The Journal alleged that Facebook knew of serious problems like false COVID-19 information and negative emotional effects on users but delayed fixing them in fear of … [Read more...] about Facebook says it’s spent $13 billion on ‘safety and security’ since 2016

The number of businesses planning to move business-critical applications from on-premises onto the cloud has spiked this year, despite growing concerns over potential cybersecurity incidents, new research has found. A report from Equinix polling 2,600 IT decision-makers across the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and EMEA found that 37% of firms currently have plans to move business-critical apps to the cloud, up 11% year-on-year. At the moment, more than half (54%) of all IT infrastructure is estimated to already be in the cloud, despite cybersecurity concerns, with almost four in five (79%) of respondents in the UK saying that moving to the cloud is a top priority. We've built a list of the best bare metal hosting services available We’ve built a list of the best cloud hosting services on the market Check out our list of the best endpoint protection software available At the same time, almost half (47%) are wary of data leaks and cyberattacks that may come as a result … [Read more...] about Cloud migration is still accelerating, despite security concerns

The new version of Apple's web browser is now here for macOS running Catalina and Big Sur with the official release of Safari 15. In testing since its unveiling at WWDC 2021 in June, Safari 15 has seen major changes this year, with design updates being rolled back and giving users the option to switch between the older or newer user interface. While this version will start shipping with macOS 12 Monterey once a release date is confirmed, users running Catalina and later can update to Safari 15 and benefit from improved security features alongside the updated design. Check out our list of the best malware removal available Here’s our list of the best VPN services These are the best business broadband plans currently on offer Safari 15 improvements What’s immediately apparent is the new design that Safari 15 features, with tabs sitting beside the address bar, alongside the entire window adapting to the current web page’s color scheme, so you may see it … [Read more...] about There’s an all-new, super secure look for Safari 15 on macOS

Democracy advocate Freedom House has published findings that indicate a growing number of governments are forcing tech businesses to comply with online censorship and surveillance. The findings were released as part of the non-profit, non-governmental organisation's (NGO) annual Freedom on the Net 2021 report [PDF], which found that 48 out of 70 countries covered in the report -- which account for 88% of the world's internet users -- have pursued new rules for tech companies on content, data, or competition over the past year. "While some moves reflected legitimate attempts to mitigate online harms, rein in misuse of data, or end manipulative market practices, many new laws imposed excessively broad censorship and data-collection requirements on the private sector," the report said. Of specific concern to the NGO was that at least 24 countries have passed or announced new laws or rules governing how platforms treat content, which it worries could lead to increased censorship … [Read more...] about Democracy advocate finds internet freedom has declined globally for 11th consecutive year

Phishing: These are the tricks crooks use to make you open malware email attachments Watch Now Microsoft is shining a light on a phishing-as-a-service operation that's selling fake login pages for cloud services like OneDrive that help non-technical cybercriminals steal business user passwords and usernames. Phishing kits are nothing new, but this phishing-as-a-service service caught the attention of Microsoft's security teams because it lowers the bar to quality phishing even more. That business, called BulletProofLink and a few other names, provides email and web site templates as phishing kits do, but also offers email delivery, hosting services, credential theft. It also claims to provide 'fully undetected' (FUD) links and logs and is available for purchase as a weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or annual subscription. SEE: Half of businesses can't spot these signs of insider cybersecurity threats As Microsoft outlines, phishing service providers are one … [Read more...] about This phishing-as-a-service operation is responsible for many attacks against businesses, says Microsoft

Digital identity management firm FYEO says it has discovered hundreds of instances of breached credentials from employees of NEW Cooperative, the Iowa-based farm service provider hit with a ransomware attack in recent days. Tammy Kahn, COO of FYEO, told ZDNet that when researchers searched through the company's database, they found 653 instances of breached credentials connected to NEW Cooperative. The password "chicken1" was common among the company's 120 employees and was used over 10 times. Kahn added that the firm's CEO Brent Bunte appeared to have the second-highest number of instances of breached credentials while other current executives also had passwords that had been leaked. NEW Cooperative did not respond to multiple requests for comment. "The NewCoop ransomware situation is concerning for a number of reasons, the first being that hackers are still going after critical infrastructure and seeking to disrupt supply chains even when explicitly stating otherwise. … [Read more...] about After ransomware attack, company finds 650+ breached credentials from NEW Cooperative CEO, employees

Whether your PC supports Windows 11 is a question that is in the minds of millions of Windows users. Microsoft hasn’t Windows 11 system requirements are already confusing and the requirement of TPM 2.0 made things worse for people. To solve that confusion Microsoft created a tool -- PC Health Check -- that was supposed to run a check and tell users that if their system is compatible with Microsoft’s latest or not. However, that turned out to be a disaster for both users as well as the company. The app simply told users that their current system isn’t compatible with Windows 11 without answering the million dollar question -- why?. More so when in the case of TPM 2.0 or Secure Boot is missing. That’s the reason Microsoft pulled the app from the store soon after releasing it in June. The company also confirmed that “it was not fully prepared to share the level of detail or accuracy you expected from us on why a Windows 10 PC doesn't meet upgrade requirements." … [Read more...] about Windows PC Health Check app is back in business and is now more functional