Tag Archive for: authority

Is Samsung Pay safe? – Android Authority

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Samsung Pay is a mobile payment app available exclusively on Samsung smartphones and smartwatches, making it easy to make quick purchases on the go. It’s convenient and lets you leave your wallet behind. But many users might be wary about saving their card information on a device that others might access or could be lost or stolen. So, is Samsung Pay safe?

Read more: How to set up and use Samsung Pay

QUICK ANSWER

Yes, Samsung Pay is safe. The app doesn’t store your actual card information and uses tokenization to create a unique identifier used to complete transactions. You also cannot make a purchase without first authenticating it with a PIN, pattern, fingerprint, or face scan. Samsung phones also come with Knox to protect your phone from malware and other security threats.

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How secure is Samsung Pay?

Samsung Wallet smartphone app

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

Samsung provides as much security as possible with Samsung Pay to ensure that your private financial information is safe. Knox, Samsung’s multi-layer software protection system, protects your phone from malware and other security threats and keeps personal info like passwords, card information, biometrics, and more secure.

The Samsung Pay app uses tokenization to secure your card data. In simple terms, tokenization replaces your card info with another unique identifier that is then used to complete the transaction on the payment network. When you add a card to Samsung Pay, you will see a different number under your card called the Digital card number. If anyone requires the last four digits of your card to verify a transaction, this is the number you’ll provide instead of your actual card details.

samsung pay digital card

Ankit Banerjee / Android Authority

Your actual card information isn’t saved or accessed by Samsung, with the app using the created token for transactions. Samsung Pay will only show the last four digits of your card number on the image to make it easier to find and manage if you add multiple cards.

Samsung ensures that every step when using Samsung Pay is safe as well. You will need to authorize every transaction with a PIN, pattern, fingerprint, or iris scan before completing a purchase. When you add a card, the bank or card…

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Client-Side Security: You Can Delegate Authority But Not Responsibility

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By Source Defense

There’s an old saying that leaders can delegate authority but not responsibility. That remains relevant and true in the digital supply chain. Companies can give their supply chain partners authority to operate on their websites, but responsibility for what that 3rd, 4th, and 5th-party code is doing ultimately rests with your internal security team.

Security practitioners struggle to keep up with the volume and pace of cybersecurity incidents, are overwhelmed by alerts and false positives, are distracted by new and evolving compliance requirements and are under pressure to show value to business peers. But the corporate website—often the centerpiece of the enterprise revenue model—presents a structural security risk that could mean the difference between business success and failure.

In the browser, client-side processes are almost always written in JavaScript. According to our team’s latest intelligence, there are more than 1.7 billion public-facing websites worldwide, and JavaScript is used on 95% of them. Frontend JavaScript code has grown in size by more than 347% for desktop and more than 593% for mobile during the last 8 years and keeps growing. 

And therein lies the structural security issue that poses one of the biggest threats to your most critical business channels—protecting your customer data at the point of entry. Javascript is used by all of your 3rd party digital suppliers, including payment card processors, advertising networks, social sharing services, analytics, and more, and it sits outside your security perimeter and is vulnerable to a wide range of attacks. 

How Much Do You Know About Your 3rd Party Attack Surface?

As a security team, if you still aren’t convinced that taking action to secure client-side transactions like payment card entry is an immediate necessity, the latest release of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS version 4.0) has decided for you.

PCI DSS v4.0 section 6.4.3 states explicitly in its guidance that payment page scripts that are loaded and executed in the consumer’s browser must be managed as follows:

  1. A method is implemented to confirm that each script is authorized.
  2. An inventory…

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Cyber Security Authority calls on business to pay attention to cyber risks

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The Cyber Security Authority has called on businesses to pay attention to cyber risks which pose a threat to all businesses.

Speaking on Joy Business Social, Isaac Mensah, an officer at the Cyber Security Authority, noted that cyber security just like any form of security begins with the user or individual, and as such businesses and employees should pay attention to social engineering attacks, aimed at swindling businesses.

“The issue is about awareness, if you want to do an online business, you should know the risks involved. Having the business alone or migrating your business online may be cost-effective, but we need to pay attention to the risks which exist on various platforms we list our businesses.”

He further stated that majority of the attacks on small and medium businesses recorded in Ghana are socially engineered attacks rather than hacking.

He went on to say that such attacks prey on the vulnerability of users by swindling them.

“When you look at the trend of attacks, a lot of these attacks is not hacking, it is socially engineered attacks which prey on your intelligence. It is about your level of operation and what you need to know to arm yourself”.

“Once you know the schemes, you will be able to detect an attack and find solutions to it”, he said.

On his part, Henry Cobblah, Project Lead at Skillmine Africa cautioned users to make an effort to understand the various services operating on the internet before signing up.

According to him, just as every home is not safe, no matter the levels of security put in place for protection so is the internet, therefore the users should be vigilant.

“Whenever you are getting into anything on the internet, make sure you understand the platform or service before jumping on. Read about it, ask about before investing or signing up to anything on the internet. Lack of understanding of platforms makes you more vulnerable to scamming”, he stressed.

“Ensuring cyber safety has become very important especially now that a lot of businesses are migrating online and relying on cloud services for business support. Though a lot of attacks we see here in Ghana are mainly social engineered attacks, it becomes imperative for businesses…

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USW’s Masters in Computer Forensics backed by Cyber Security Authority

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The University of South Wales (USW) has had one of its cyber courses reaccredited by a major government authority.

USW’s MSc in Computer Forensics has been given the prestigious accolade by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the UK’s lead technical authority on cyber security.

In 2016, USW became the only university in Wales to gain the prestigious provisional certification for the Masters in Computer Forensics from GCHQ, the UK Government’s Communications HQ. The NCSC was launched that year as part of GCHQ, meaning that it has been able to draw on the organisation’s world-class skills and sensitive capabilities.

In the intervening years, USW has seen a number of other courses gain NCSC approval, including the MSc in Cyber Security, and was also named Cyber University of the Year for three years running – 2019, 2020, and 2021 – at the National Cyber Awards. The University has also received the NCSC’s Gold standard as a recognised Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Education.

Andy Bellamy, Computer Forensics Course Leader at USW, said:

The process of certification involved rigorous assessment of the staff team, content and university facilities – everything that influences the overall quality of the course.

It requires a complex and lengthy document that covers every detail of the programme, and approval under this scheme means that the courses meet the high standards of the NCSC.

We’re delighted that the hard work of our team at USW has been recognised, and that Masters students can be confident that they are getting the best possible education in the Computer Forensics field.

Chris Ensor, NCSC Deputy Director for Cyber Growth, said:

I am delighted that the University of South Wales’ MSc Computer Forensics is now full re-accredited by the NCSC.

Offering a certified course helps prospective students make more informed choices about their future career prospects in cyber security and employers can rest assured that graduates of these courses will be well-taught and have valued industry skills.

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